In the end
by BekahLeigh
Summary: Daryl finds himself becoming increasingly concerned for Carol's well being after an incident in the prison yard changes their relationship forever.
1. Chapter 1

He could feel the sweat drip from his brow as he emerged from the shade of the forest into the hot Georgia sunshine. As usual, he had started hunting in the early hours of the morning, before the heat became too much to bear. After a slow start, he had hit the mother lode when he stumbled upon a small flock of turkeys. He hoisted his kill a little higher on his shoulder, lifting his hand to shield his eyes from the blazing afternoon sun. Entering the prison gates, he couldn't help but smile as he scanned the yard and saw that all was peaceful. Carl, Beth and Hershel were spread out on a blanket, taking turns having baby Judith crawl on her belly towards them. The little ass kicker was growing like a weed and at this rate would be up and walking before they knew it. He spotted Rick and Michonne patrolling the fence, rare smiles on both their faces as they chatted away. Noting the absence of Glenn and Maggie from the group, he glanced up at the guard tower, assuming that they were inside, doing what they seemed to do best. He couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips as he thought back to all the times the couple had been caught mid tryst while on watch. He had even started mentally referring to the tower as the honeymoon suite, not that he would tell anyone that. He walked a bit further into the yard until he finally found who he had been looking for. Carol stood a little way away from the group, humming to herself as she hung the freshly washed laundry on the line to dry. Looking up from her work, she met his gaze with a small smile as he approached her, her smile only brightening as she realized what he was carrying.

" Is that what I think it is?" she asked excitedly as she looked at the huge bird hanging from his shoulder.

"Came across a whole flock of them this morning. Thing has got to weigh 25 pounds, easy. " he replied.

"Well come on then Dixon, drop that beast in the kitchen for me so I can get it cleaned up and cooking. I can't even remember the last time I had turkey. My stomach is already growling just thinking about it." she teased.

"I'll get it cleaned for ya. Just finish up what you're doin here, and I'll come get ya when it's ready." he offered, noting the large pile of laundry that still needed to be hung. Woman had enough work on her plate and he didn't mind taking a bit of the load off of her. Despite her good spirits, she had seemed a bit more worn out that usual lately, and it was starting to worry him.

Carol leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Well, aren't you the sweet one today? Kill it and clean it. You are quite the catch, ."

Daryl could feel his cheeks begin to flush, just as they always did when she started with her shy attempt at flirting. After everything they had been through together, he had grown more comfortable with their friendship. Not quite that comfortable though. He loved her, but he didn't want to complicate things. And from the little experience he had with women, he knew that was the quickest way to send her running. He glanced up to meet her gaze and simply nodded as he turned and headed towards the cell block. He made quick work of plucking and gutting the bird. He cleaned up all the mess and even managed to clean himself up a little before heading back into the yard to fetch Carol. He stopped just short of the yard, watching the woman who was occupying his thoughts. She was stretching to hang the last of the sheets on the line. He couldn't help but notice that the hem of her large shirt had risen above the waist of her low slung jeans, revealing a pale sliver of bare skin. It wasn't the first time he had caught little flashes of her body, but this time was different. Even in the distance he could see how thin she had become, the outline of her ribs clearly visible through her pale skin. She never did seem to eat enough, but lately she really didn't seem to eat at all, always giving her food to Beth or Carl. She claimed that they needed it more that she did, but that shit was going to stop if Daryl had anything to say about it. He watched as she put the last clip on the sheet and stepped back to admire her work, a look of satisfaction on her face. She turned around, giving him a small wave as he approached.

"Is the turkey all ready to go?" she asked as she picked up her empty basket.

He nodded, taking the basket from her hands as they walked towards the kitchen. "It's ready to go, but don't you wanna take a break before you get started. I mean, no offense, but you look beat."

She glanced over at him with a small smile and put her hand on his arm. "Thanks for the concern, but honestly, I'm fine."

Daryl looked at her and even as she said the words he could tell it was far from the truth. The color had drained from her face and her grip on his arm tightened. "Carol?" he asked, a hint of panic present in his voice. She didn't seem to hear him as her eyes slowly closed and she began to stumble, before collapsing completely into his arms. He laid her down gently on the grass before yelling for Hershel. The whole group heard his calls for help and came running, shocked to find Daryl on his knees next to the unconscious woman, softly shaking her shoulder and calling her name with a look of fear on his face.

"What happened here?" Hershel asked, lowering himself down in the grass next to Carol.

"I don't know, she was talking and she looked so tired and the next thing, she's passing out on me. What the hell is wrong with her?"

Hershel placed a hand on her forehead. "Well, judging from her temperature, I would say it's just a simple case of heat stroke. It's no wonder. Look at what she's wearing. It's over 100 degrees out here and she's wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. It's a wonder she didn't pass out sooner."

Daryl felt a surge of relief as he saw that she was starting to come around. "So what do I gotta do, just cool her down?"

"Get her back to her cell. Get some water and aspirin into her and try and get her to rest. Maybe change her into some lighter clothes."

Daryl sighed as he scooped a half conscious Carol into his arms. She smiled up at him a bit dazed as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Alright, I think I got it from here. Thanks."

Hershel just nodded. "Let me know if you need anything."

The group returned to their previous activities as Daryl carried Carol back into the dark, cool confines of the cell block they called home. Kicking open the door to her cell, he gently laid her down on her cot, leaving only for a moment to collect a bottle of water and a few aspirin. He managed to get her to come around long enough to get her to swallow the pills and gulp down half the bottle of water before she started to doze off. He shook he shoulder a little, softly calling her name. "Carol, you have to wake up. You have to get cooled down. You are gonna sweat to death in those clothes. Can you get changed by yourself?"

She shook her head, keeping her eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep. He sighed as he realized that this was gonna be up to him. He rolled her sleeping form onto her back and pulled her socks and shoes off slowly. He couldn't help the smile that came to his face when he saw that her toenails were painted red. "We're in the middle of the apocalypse, and the woman gives herself a pedicure." He hesitated for a moment before reaching for the button of her jeans. "Get it together Dixon." he thought as he popped the clasp open and slowly lifted her hips to slide the thick fabric from her body. He tried his best to keep his eyes off of her newly exposed flesh, but couldn't help but steal a quick glance at her long, toned legs. He found himself drawn to the small scattering of bruises that dotted her flesh. The dark purple marks seemed to be everywhere, from the smaller ones on her calves to the larger ones on her inner thighs. "What the fuck?" he whispered to himself as he tentatively brushed a hand over a particularly angry looking spot below her hip. He started to unbutton her shirt, gently sliding her arms from the sleeves only to reveal a fresh new batch of bruises marring the pale skin on her arms and even trailing across her painfully thin stomach. He reeled a bit as he thought back to their short time in the Atlanta camp, when the sight of Carol covered in bruises was something he had noticed but chosen to ignore. But Ed was dead, and unless she had made a new hobby of sneaking off to wrestle walkers, he couldn't understand where all of the marks had come from. She was sound asleep by now, snoring softly, with a look of peaceful calm spread across her delicate features. He pulled the threadbare sheet from the foot of the bed, draping it over her sleeping form before dropping himself down to the floor, leaning his back against the cool wall. He wasn't leaving this room until she was awake. He had to know she was going to be okay. He leaned his head back, his eyes never leaving her as he waited for her to wake.

Please review! Thanks for reading. Updates soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Daryl's eyes shot open at the small sound of the creaking old cot. He sat straight up, realizing he must have dozed off in the hours he had sat by Carol's bed side, waiting for her to come to. He glanced over at the stirring woman, her eyes fluttering open and meeting his stare.

"Daryl? How… where… what happened?" she quietly asked as she took in her surroundings.

Daryl moved to sit down on the side of her cot, placing his hand on hers. "You passed out in the yard. Hershel said it was heat stroke."

Carol looked at him questioningly. "I don't even remember it. Last thing I remember is talking about that turkey you killed." With that her eyes widened as she remembered the turkey. She shot straight up in the bed. "Oh no, the turkey. Supper. I need to get down there and get cooking. Everyone has to be starving by now." She tried to push herself out of bed, but was met with resistance as Daryl gently gripped her shoulder and laid her back down.

"Carol, it's all taken care of. Beth and Maggie made supper. Carl even cleaned up afterwards. Everyone was worried about you and wanted you to get some rest. You push yourself too damn hard woman. Just relax a bit."

Carol sighed as she laid her head back down on the thin pillow. She started to say something when she glanced down at the floor and saw her clothes in a small pile next to her boots. Her cheeks started to burn as she looked down at herself and found that she was clad only in her black cotton panties and bra, the almost transparent bed sheet the only thing shielding her body from Daryl's eyes. She panicked as she pulled the sheet up around her neck, wondering if he had seen. One look at his face and she knew that he had. Concern filled his blue eyes as he reached over to tentatively pull the sheet from her small hand, letting it drop to her waist. She looked away, not sure of what to say next.

"You gonna tell me how you got those." he said quietly, not asking but demanding an explanation.

It wasn't the first time Carol had needed to come up with a story to explain her bruises. She glanced at Daryl and took a deep breath. "I tripped at the top of the stairs and took a nasty tumble. My own fault really, wasn't watching where I was going and slipped on one of Jude's toys."

Daryl felt his anger start to build as she sat there and told him the boldfaced lie. He tried to calm himself as he gripped her hand a little tighter. "Bullshit." he stated bluntly.

Carol just gaped as she heard his reply. "What do you mean, bullshit? You asked what happened, I told you. Just a stupid accident." She looked away, unable to meet his hard stare.

Daryl reached over, placing a hand on her cheek and turning her face to meet his own. "There ain't no way that a tumble down the stairs got you bruised up like this. Don't try and sell me some story. I've heard them all. Hell, I've used them all." he said, noticing her eyes starting to fill with tears. "You need to tell me what is really going on."

She sat there for a moment, trying to keep her composure. She wiped away the tear that had rolled down her cheek. She took a deep breath, reaching to place her other hand over their already joined ones. She had feared this moment for so long, but she knew that it had to be done. She just couldn't lie anymore. Not to him. "Daryl, I…I'm sick. I didn't want to say anything, but I have been for a while now." she admitted, brushing away another tear that had escaped her eyes.

Daryl didn't know what to say. He felt a wave of guilt wash over him as he realized that the signs had all been there. He had just been too preoccupied to notice. He should have done something, made her take better care of herself, made her eat more. She looked so frail sitting there next to him, the soft glow of the moonlight through the window illuminating her pale skin. The guilt was quickly replaced by anger as he pulled his hand roughly from hers and stood up. "What the hell do you mean, you have been for a while. Why didn't you say something? I'm getting Hershel."

"No!" Carol begged as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to his place on the bed. Tears began streaming freely down her face as she began to sob, trying to catch her breath. "You can't tell anyone. Please?" she implored.

Daryl was at a loss. He reached over to wipe the tears from her cheek. "Why don't you want me to tell anyone? I know you think you're a burden, but you pull more than your fair share around here. Just tell me what I can do to help, and I'll do it."

Carol gripped his hand a little tighter. "There isn't anything you can do. Not now, not in this world." She looked at him with sad eyes, searching his face for a sign that he understood.

He didn't understand what he was hearing. "Carol, I don't… I mean… How… how can you know that." he finally spit out, unsure of what else to say.

Carol ran her free hand through her hair. Memories of the past came flooding back to her as she recalled the first time she had cut it short. The tears that had fallen as she watched her long chestnut brown curls fall to the floor. She blinked back the fresh tears forming behind her lids and explained. "It seems like such a long time ago…before the world ended. I woke up one morning and found bruises on my arms. I knew they weren't from Ed, he liked to keep his bruises hidden. I didn't think much more about it at the time, but they kept showing up, all over my body. It just kept getting worse. I was so tired, all the time. I had horrible headaches, fevers, my bones even hurt. I finally snuck off one day and went to the doctor. They ran a whole bunch of tests, and told me that I had acute lymphocytic leukemia. That was the worst day of my life. All I could think was that I was going to die, that I was going to leave my Sophia all alone in this world. Left with no one but Ed. It scared the living hell out of me. I decided then and there that I wasn't going to give up, I was going to fight. I went through 6 months of hell. Bone Marrow transplants, chemotherapy, radiation. I did it all. I prayed every night that god would allow me to live, to keep my baby safe. He must have been listening, because I went into remission. I got to live. I didn't know how long it would last, but at least I was still here. I could keep Sophia safe. I had so many plans. I was going to start a new life, take Sophia, leave Ed and never look back. But before I ever got the chance, the dead rose up and the world went to hell. I couldn't keep Sophia safe, and now that she's gone, I guess god decided my reason for living was gone too. The symptoms came back about 4 months ago, I've been trying to hide it ever since." She squeezed his hand one last time before pulling away, waiting for his response to the bombshell she had just dropped on him.

His head was swimming with such a mixture of emotions he didn't know where one ended and the next began. He just sat there in silence, trying to process everything he had just heard. She had leukemia. After everything they had been through, The CDC, the endless threat of the undead, the nightmare with the Governor. All the horrors she had endured, and this was how it was going to end. Her own body had turned on her and was slowly killing her. She was going to die. He couldn't handle all of the thoughts swarming around in his brain. His hands balled into fists as he looked at her. Gentle, kind, beautiful Carol was going to die. He couldn't imagine this life without her. He tried to speak, but couldn't. He just gazed into her sad blue eyes, their silence speaking more than their words ever could. All he could do was slide himself closer to her and draw her small frame into his arms. She began to sob quietly, her tears soaking the front of his shirt. They sat that way for what seemed like an eternity. When he felt her crying cease, he gathered the courage to speak .

"How long?" was all he could manage to say before he could feel his own voice begin to crack.

Carol gently pulled himself from his arms, tightly gripping his hand as she slid herself back to look at him. "A month, maybe two. I don't know exactly, but I can feel myself getting weaker all the time. I don't think I have a lot of time left."

"Why didn't you tell us? Tell me? We could've helped you. You've been working yourself ragged."

"I don't want anyone else to know. That is not how I want to spend my last days, being pitied by the people I love. You have to promise me you won't tell the others."

It felt wrong. He wasn't one for keeping secrets, especially one as big as this. But it was what she wanted and when he saw the trusting look she gave him, he knew he couldn't refuse her. "I promise I won't say anything to the group. But are you ever planning on telling them? I mean, what's gonna happen when you can't hide it anymore. When you…." He couldn't bring himself to say the words but she knew what he meant.

"I'll just have to cross that road when I come to it. But for now I just want to enjoy the time I have left with everyone. The time I have left with you." She leaned forward, bringing her hand up to his cheek. She placed a small kiss on his lips, pulling away before he had the chance to. "I'm starting to get tired now." she said as she pulled the sheet around her thin frame and slid her head back onto the pillow. Daryl moved to stand but was stilled by Carol's hand. "Will you please stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone right now."

Daryl just nodded in agreement. He kicked off his boots and went to take his place back at the wall, but noticed that Carol was moving over on the small mattress and reaching for his hand. He hesitated for a moment before surrendering to her silent request. He lay down next to her, stiff on his back, trying to keep a small space between them. The space was quickly filled however, as Carol slid a bit closer and softly laid her head on his chest. Pushing his discomfort to the back of his mind, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly until he her could feel that her breathing had deepened and she had fallen asleep. It was only once he knew that she was out that he finally let the revelations of the night hit him. Hot tears began to stream down his cheeks, his emotions too much for him to contain. He had wasted so much time, taken her presence for granted. She had once joked that she had nine lives, and up until now he had truly believed it. She was the one constant in his life, the small ray of sunshine that had broken through the dark clouds that surrounded his damaged soul. She had done so much for him in their time together, and had asked for nothing in return. But he knew deep down that there was one thing that she truly desired, and he had been unable to give it to her. All she had ever really wanted from him was his love. And it wasn't until now, their time almost up, that he finally felt he could give it to her. He peered over at her, noting the beautiful smile that had formed on her lips as she slept. He didn't know how yet, but he was going to make sure that it stayed there until she breathed her last breath.

Thank you all for your kind reviews. I am currently working on chapter 3 and will update as soon as I can. Please keep the reviews coming, they keep me going. Hugs and Kisses, Bekah


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: I want to apologize for taking so long to update this story. I had started writing Something Lost, Something Gained at the same time as this one, and that one kind of sucked me in. But as it is finally completed, I have resumed writing this story. Thanks for your patience.**

* * *

Daryl's eyes flickered open as he felt the thin mattress shift beside him. Remembering where he was, he slowly turned his head, only to come face to face with Carol, lying next to him on her stomach with her head propped up on her elbows.

"Good morning sleepyhead." she said cheerfully as she grinned at him.

"Morning." he said gruffly. He ran a hand over his face as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. Carol was still curled up beside him in the small bed, and he came to realize his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. His first instinct was to pull it away, but he suppressed it. He lay there next to her for a moment in complete silence, unsure of what to say next. Luckily, Carol decided to break the silence for him. She snuggled closer to him, propping her chin on his chest to meet his eyes.

"You know, if I had known it would be this easy to get you in my bed, I would have told you weeks ago that I was dying." she said, a flicker of sadness in her blue eyes, but the silly grin never leaving her lips.

Daryl lay there in shock. "How can you joke about this?" he asked. "It's not funny."

"Nothing else I can do. If I can't laugh about it, then what else is there? I'm not going to spend the time I have left feeling sorry for myself. I spent way too much of my life living that way. It is what it is. I have to find joy in the small things." With that she swung a leg over his waist, practically straddling him before quickly climbing from the bed.

He blushed as she stood before him, her thin frame still clad in nothing more than her black bra and panties. In the light of the morning sun, he noticed things he had not seen the previous night. The light dusting of freckles that dotted her creamy skin, the soft swell of her breasts above the low cut lace bra. He knew he was staring, but found that he couldn't look away. He lifted a hand to reach for her, but she had already turned away. She bent down, picking up her jeans from the pile on the floor. She quickly slid them on, grabbing a clean long sleeved shirt from her bag. He was about to say something, recalling her heat stroke, but stopped himself when she slipped it on and he saw that it was so light it was almost see through. Fully dressed, she turned around, giving him a sweet smile before sitting herself down on the edge of the cot to pull her boots on. She glanced at him once she finished tying her laces.

"Thank you Daryl, for staying with me last night." she said, reaching over to give his hand a quick squeeze.

He looked down, noting the way her hand was lingering above his. He had so many things he needed to say to her, but when it came time to speak he found he had lost the words. He didn't know how to do this. How to tell her how much she meant to him, how much he loved her. But he had to tell her, before it was too late. He took a deep breath before sitting up in the bed, and taking her hand in his. "Carol, we need to talk." he said.

Carol leaned over and gave him a light kiss on his cheek before pulling her hand from his and standing. "I know what you're going to say, but please don't. I know you want me to tell everyone about my condition, but I'm just not ready yet. I'll do it in my own time. Now if you don't mind, some of us have work to do." she said teasingly, a bright smile forming on her lips. She was out of the cell before he even had a chance to respond.

He wanted nothing more than to follow her, pull her into his arms, and never let go. But the reality of the situation was that he just wasn't that guy. He wasn't one for grand gestures and flowery words. But he had to find a way to show her how he felt. He just had no idea how he was going to do that. Glancing at the window, it dawned on him how late in the morning it was. He stood from the bed, stretching his sore muscles as he slipped his boots on. He was not looking forward to facing the group, knowing what he knew. But he had promised Carol that he wouldn't reveal her secret and he intended to keep that promise.

After taking a few minutes to collect his thoughts, he left the cell and headed for the kitchen. Despite the dark thoughts clouding his own mind, the scene he walked into was a happy one. The smell of eggs, coffee and leftover turkey filled the air. He spotted Carol already sitting at one of the small tables, looking slightly uncomfortable as Beth, Hershel and even Carl fussed over her, making sure she was feeling better after the incident in the yard.

"Will ya'll quit fussin over her. She's just fine. Just needed some sleep." he said as he dropped into the chair next to her with his breakfast, knowing the words couldn't be further from the truth. She glanced sideways at him, her eyes expressing gratitude. He didn't acknowledge it, he just kept his eyes trained on his plate. When breakfast was over, Carol stood up from her seat, collecting the dirty dishes from the table and making her way over to the sink to begin her work for the day. He hated the idea of her working so hard, knowing how weak she was, even if she was hiding it well. He had an idea, and quickly walked over to her and grabbed her elbow, startling her and causing her to drop a plate back into the soapy water in front of her.

"Daryl, what are you doing? You scared the hell out of me." she asked, gently pulling her arm from his grasp and resuming her work.

He raised his voice a bit, just enough that everyone in the room could hear. "Come on woman, you're doing guard duty with me today. Beth can handle things here." He turned to meet the eyes of the rest of the group. "Anyone have a problem with that?"

He was met by looks of confusion and one of amusement by Glenn, but no one said anything, simply shook their heads.

Taking that as permission, he grabbed Carol by the elbow again, pulling her along with him as he made his way out into the sunshine of the yard. Once they were free from the eyes and ears of the group, she stopped walking, pulling herself gently away from him.

"What was that all about?" she asked, not angry but mildly annoyed.

"I just…I thought it might be best if you stayed with me in the tower today. You work too hard and I thought you could rest." he said, wanting to say more but not really finding the words.

She looked at him, standing there, eyes downcast. She wanted to be mad, wanted to tell him that she could take care of herself, but she didn't have the heart to. He had done what he did out of concern, not out of a need for control. She simply placed her hand on his arm, causing him to lift his gaze to meet hers. "Okay Daryl, I'll rest today."

Daryl smiled a little bit, happy that she wasn't fighting him. They made their way up into the tower, Carol slipping into the chair on the balcony while Daryl leaned back against the railing, not taking his eyes off of her. Just the climb up the stairs had been hard for her. He could see that even if she didn't complain. He didn't realize how long he had been staring at her until he suddenly saw her look up, a small smile on her face. "You know, I don't think watching me counts as watch duty. Not unless you're waiting for me to turn. I think I have awhile before that happens."

He knew she meant the comment as a joke, but as if the idea of her dying wasn't bad enough, now he had a picture in his head that was more heartbreaking than anything he could imagine. Carol, sweet, vibrant Carol, dead and rotting, shambling towards him with nothing in her eyes but hunger.

"Why would you say that?" he asked, clearly upset. "I… I wouldn't let that happen to you."

Carol had regretted her words as soon as she had said them, but now, seeing the pain they had caused him, she felt like shit.

"Daryl, I'm sorry. I didn't think about it before I said it. I'm just…I'm scared okay. I try to tell myself that this is all just another cruel joke that life is playing on me. But I'm terrified. I don't want to die. Not now. Sophia is gone, but I still have people who need me."

Daryl listened to her confession and he could feel his heart begin to shatter. He stood there in silence for a moment, carefully choosing his next words. He stepped forward and crouched down in front of her. Her eyes were downcast, her expression just sort of blank. He didn't touch her, he just spoke. "Carol, I'm scared too. I don't want to lose you. I know I don't say this much, but you're one of the only people that has ever meant shit to me. I…I've needed to tell you something for a while and I ain't been man enough to say it until now. I love you."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, clouded by the thoughts running through her mind. "What?"

He broke his gaze away from hers. This wasn't the reaction he had been expecting. He quietly said the words again. "I said, I love you." He reached for her hand, but she flinched away.

"Daryl, I… I don't know what to say. I…I need to get out of here. I need to think." she said anxiously, jumping up from her chair and leaving him still crouched down on the floor as she bolted through the door and down the stairs.

He slumped backwards, landing on his ass with a thump. "What the hell just happened?" he thought to himself as he looked at the chair where she had been sitting just a moment ago. "I tell her I love her and she runs off like I just hit her. What the fuck did I do? I thought that's what she wanted from me. She's always flirting with me and touching me. Was I wrong? Did I see something that wasn't there? Maybe I wanted it to be there. Oh, fuck, I screwed up."

His mind was a mess and he spent the rest of his watch pacing back and forth, trying to figure out a way to fix what he had done. When Glenn finally arrived to relieve him in the late afternoon, he barely acknowledged the man as he flew past him and down the steps, running towards the prison. He needed to talk to Carol. Now.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Next chapter up very, very soon. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for the reviews. Things are gonna get a bit dark in this chapter but it's not all angst and death. Read on.**

* * *

When he entered the cell block, he looked around for Carol, but didn't find her. "Beth, where's Carol? I need to talk to her." he called over to the young blond standing by the stove.

"She said she was still kind of tired after yesterday. She told me she was going to go lay down."

"Thanks." he called over his shoulder, already heading towards her cell. When he opened the curtain, he found that she wasn't there. He was just about to leave when he spotted a piece of paper on her bed. He looked a bit closer and saw his name. He picked it up and turned it over, his heart leaping into his throat when he saw the words written there.

I'm sorry. I had to do it. Forgive me.

Carol

He became frantic when he saw that her gun was not in the holster hanging from the back of her chair. He had to find her now. Before it was too late. He raced out of her cell and thanked god when he saw her faint footprints in the thin layer of dust that had settled on the floor. He followed them, racing, heart pounding in his chest as he entered the tombs. They led to the closet where he had once rescued her after they had thought they lost her. There was no hesitation on his part as he swung the door open, revealing Carol, sitting cross legged on the floor, her tear stained face focused on the gun that lay before her. She didn't look up, she knew he was there and all it did was cause a new wave of tears to flood her eyes.

He felt relief wash over him, but it was only a brief respite from everything else he was feeling. He was angry, furious that she had even considered doing what he knew she came here to do. But mostly he was scared. Scared of the way she looked right now, small and broken, rocking back and forth as she sobbed. He was scared of the future, knowing that stopping her now was only delaying the inevitable. He was scared to speak. He simply leaned down and carefully picked up the gun from the floor, tucking it into the back of his jeans before sitting down across from her. The closet was small, and his knees were touching hers as he sat there in silence. What could he say right now? He couldn't tell her that things would be okay. They wouldn't. One way or another, her life was going to end and soon. But he wasn't ready to give her up yet. And certainly not like this. She was worth too much to spend the last seconds of her life hiding in a dirty hole, with nothing left but the taste of cold steel on her lips. But she hadn't done it. The gun on the floor had been proof of that. Why would she have set it down unless she had changed her mind. He wanted to ask her, to say something, but he couldn't. He remained silent, his presence alone was more of a comfort to her than he knew.

She cried until she didn't have any tears left. After a while she dared to glance at him, terrified of how he would look at her after what she had done. He didn't look angry, he looked like her, broken and scared. He finally found the strength to speak. "Carol, why…" he whispered, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

She lifted her head but still wouldn't really look at him. "I'm sorry. I just didn't know what else to do. I couldn't do it. I tried. I had my finger on the trigger. But all I could think about was someone finding me like that. Carl, or Beth, or you. I couldn't do that to you all."

Daryl shuddered when he realized just how close she had come. He had to know one thing, and he reached out and gently put his hand on her knee as he asked. "Carol, why now? You could still have months left, you told me that. Was this because of what I told you in the watch tower? You ran out of there like a bat out of hell. I didn't mean to get you upset. I was tryin' to do the opposite. I came in to tell you I was sorry and I found your note. I ain't never been more scared in my life."

Carol finally met his gaze with her own, her red rimmed eyes locked onto his. "Daryl, I'm sorry I scared you. I was stupid and selfish to even consider this. But I have to ask you something. Why did you say that to me this morning? Were you just trying to make me feel better? Trying to give me what I wanted? I need to know."

Daryl saw the hurt and confusion on her face and it made his heart ache. "I wasn't trying to do anything. I just finally realized that I wasted way too much time taking you for granted. I realized that I didn't want another second to go by without you knowing how I feel. I love you, not like a friend or like family. I love you and I'm sorry I'm such an asshole that it took me this long to tell you that."

She felt a fresh batch of tear begin to well up in her eyes but she blinked them back. "That's what I was scared of. I love you, and I'm sure you know that. I haven't been real subtle about it. But I had accepted that you didn't feel that way, and somehow it made things easier. I was worried about how you would react when you found out I was sick. But I knew that eventually you would be okay. You would bury your fallen friend and move on. And then you go and tell me something like that. I just couldn't handle it. I thought that if I just ended it now, than maybe it would make things easier for you. That you wouldn't have to watch me die. Because that's what is going to happen. I'm going to get weaker, I'm going to be in pain, and then one day, I'm just going to fade away, leaving behind nothing but a monster. Don't you understand that? We aren't going to get married, or have kids, or live a long happy life together. I'm going to die and you are going to have to kill me again before I turn. That is the reality of all this. No matter how much I love you, how long I've wanted to hear those words pass your lips, I couldn't do that to you. That's why I ran off. I can't do that to you." A few of the tears she had been trying so hard to contain escaped, leaving wet trails down her dirty cheeks as they fell.

Daryl tried to process everything she had said. She had tried to kill herself just so he wouldn't have to watch her die. She thought if she was just his friend then it wouldn't hurt as much when she was gone. She was wrong. It would have killed him more if he had never told her the truth, had let her go to her grave thinking he didn't care about her just as much as she cared about him. He had to make her see that. He moved himself over to sit next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and turning her to face him. He reached up and placed his hand on her cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb. He looked deep into her blue eyes, desperate to make her understand. "Carol, you ain't doing anything to me. I love you, and if being with you means watching you die, then I'll watch you die. But right now all I'm worried about is you livin' the time you have left and you sure as hell ain't gonna try anything like this again. Like it or not, you and me were a team long before now and we're gonna deal with this together. You get that?"

She was barely able to nod before his lips were on hers, rough, demanding, desperate. His arms tightened around her, and she pressed a hand lightly against his chest, pushing him away. He pulled himself away from her, almost expecting her to be angry with him. But she had a small smile on her lips. "Daryl, are you sure about this? This isn't going to be easy."

Daryl nodded, wanting nothing more than to feel her. "I don't need easy. I need you."

He kissed her again, and this time she responded with as much passion as him. She moved herself to straddle his lap as she brought her hands up to his face, resting one on his cheek and tangling the other in his hair. She had obviously had more experience than him, and she kissed him with a skill and a fury that made him light headed. Her tongue was suddenly on his and he actually sucked on it before breaking away, only to have her gently tug on his bottom lip with her teeth and pull him back in. Their lips moved together in a perfect rhythm and she was starting to squirm in his lap, her ass now resting on his thighs. He could feel himself growing harder. So could she, and she scooted herself a bit closer to him until the bulge in his jeans was directly under her own denim clad heat. She began to gently thrust her hips towards him and it took every ounce of self control he had not to rip her clothes off of her right there. But he forced himself to stop. He pulled away from her, panting, having been kissed breathless. He looked at her swollen lips and her hunger filled eyes. "Carol, we can't. Not here. I almost lost you twice to this room. I don't want to make love to you here. It ain't right."

Carol leaned in and kissed him again, gently this time. She stood up and offered him her hand, pulling him up when he accepted it. "I know where we can go. Come on." she said, leading him from the room and out of the tombs, away from the bad memories they held. Towards something better.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Next chapter up by tonight. I'm on a roll now. Please review. Pretty, pretty please! I need input. Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: This is a fairly short chapter, but a good one. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and big thanks to those who have reviewed. It keeps me going.**

* * *

He followed closely behind her as she lead them deeper into the prison. She finally stopped as she came to an unmarked office door. "Here it is. My little secret. I found it a while back when I was looking for supplies. I come here sometimes to be alone." She opened the door, revealing a dimly lit office. They stepped inside and Daryl could see why she liked the room. It was the only place in the whole building that could be described as inviting. There was a large wooden desk on one side, the wall behind it lined with bookshelves. On the opposite side sat a tall bureau and an overstuffed tan sofa.

"Whose office was this?" Daryl asked as he looked around.

"I don't really know. Someone important, I guess. I mean, why else would they have a bed in here." she replied, walking over to the sofa and picking up the cushions, showing him that it was a sleeper. She pulled the bed out, and sat down on the edge of it, looking down at her feet. There was an uncomfortable silence between them as he came and sat down next to her. They had been so caught up in the moment before and now that they had each had a few minutes to cool down, their anxiety was starting to build. Daryl took a deep breath as he made the first move, sliding closer to her until their thighs were pressed together. He placed his hand on her leg and slowly rubbed the length of her thigh until she raised her eyes from the floor and looked at him. He was nervous, she could see it in his eyes. But he was trying. And that was all she needed. She kicked her boots off and moved herself back in the bed, her eyes begging him to follow as she lay back against the pillows. He kicked his own boots to the side and moved to lie beside her. He kissed her gently, more cautiously than before. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. It was slower, sweeter than their first real kiss, but intense at the same time, their lips moving together, their tongues dancing in perfect harmony. He reluctantly pulled away, only to move his lips lower, first to the side of her neck, trailing down until he reached her collarbone. He glanced up at her for a moment, silently asking her permission to continue. She nodded, and he resumed his movements. She moaned softly when he began to suck on a sensitive spot just below her ear, and the sound made him bolder. He slowly ran his fingers down her side until he reached the hem of her shirt. She sat up for a moment so he could remove the garment. Once it had been pulled over her head, she reached out to remove his. He flinched back as her fingers touched the buttons. She froze.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?" she asked, already moving to try and cover herself.

He stilled her hand. "You didn't do anything. I just…I don't really let anyone see me with my shirt off. It ain't pretty under there."

Carol actually smiled a little as she reached out again and began unbuttoning his shirt. "Daryl, look at me. I'm covered in bruises. But I'm not hiding. I know about your scars. I know where they came from. I don't care. You aren't hiding from me anymore."

He let her slide the shirt down his arms, exposing every mark he had tried so hard to hide. True to her word, she didn't care. She simply leaned back in to kiss him. He was suddenly overwhelmed by his desire as his anxiety faded away. He wrapped his arms around her waist, sliding his hands up her bare back until he reached the clasp to her bra, unhooking it after a few unsuccessful attempts. She quickly pulled it off and flung it across the room, her own need becoming urgent. She reached down, unbuttoning her jeans and wriggling out of them as fast as she could while he did the same. Once they were both free of their clothes, the studied each other for a moment. He didn't care about the bruises on her body, the small stretch marks on her stomach from her pregnancy. She was beautiful. She didn't see the scars, or burns, or tattoos. All she saw was the man she had wanted for so long, truly opening himself up to her for the first time. She moved herself back against the pillows, spreading her legs wide as he kneeled in between them, his throbbing erection hovering just inches away from her opening.

"Daryl, please, I need you now." she pleaded in a breathy whisper.

He inched himself in, the tightness and heat overwhelming him. He pushed in slowly until he was completely inside of her. She moaned at the feeling of fullness, and her hips bucked slightly, seeking more. Daryl pulled back out gently before reentering her with slightly more force. His movement was met with another moan, this one just a little louder than before. She reached out for him, pulling him down to crush her lips against his. This caused him to buck his hips harder than before and she actually cried out against his lips. He let himself be guided by her, her cries and whimpers setting his thrusts into a pace which left her trembling under him. He moved his lips from hers and kissed a trail down her chest, flicking his tongue against the hard pink nub of her nipple before pulling it into his mouth and sucking. Her hips began to rise even faster, meeting his thrusts with equal force. He increased his speed, giving her nipple one last little nip before giving the other one the same treatment. He could feel her begin to clench around him, he knew she was close. He was about to come himself, but he held out as long as he could. He was just about to blow when she cried out his name and he felt her walls tighten around his cock, moisture flooding from her as he finally found his own release. He was panting for breath, but he refused to tear his eyes away from her. Her gaze was fixed on him and she had an almost dreamy expression on her face. He slowly pulled himself from her warmth and laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. They were both breathing heavily, and when she laid her head down on his sweaty chest, she could hear the sound of his heart beating rapidly. Before she knew it, the comforting sound had lulled her to sleep. Daryl could feel from the way she relaxed against him that she was out, but he didn't release her. He just held her tightly, still not trusting that this was real. The good parts or the bad. But he was trying not the think about that. All he wanted to do was fall asleep with her warm body pressed to his. He never wanted to leave this bed again. He never wanted to let her go again. But he knew that couldn't happen. He could feel his fear return, the thoughts of losing her quickly flooding his brain. But he remembered something she had said. Find joy in the small things. If what he had just had wasn't joy, then he didn't know what it was. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the head as he pushed the dark thoughts from his mind and found his joy again as he fell asleep with the woman he loved in his arms.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. One or two more chapters up by tomorrow. Please take the time to review. I really would love to know what you all think of this story. Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. Please keep your comments coming. They make my day.**

* * *

He woke up slowly, her warm body still wrapped around his. He was more relaxed than he could ever remember being before, until he heard the faint sound of his name being called. Followed by Carol's. He glanced around and found that the room was now dark, the sun having set long ago. He hated to disturb her, she looked so peaceful. But he had to. He untangled himself from her arms and reached down to shake her gently by the shoulder. "Carol, come on, we have to get up. Somebody is looking for us."

He smiled when her blue eyes flickered open, a little pout coming to her lips. "I don't want to move. I'm so comfortable. Lock the door and lay back down with me. Please?" she grumbled, half joking, half serious.

He leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss. "I love you woman, but we have to get out of here. It's really late. They're probably freaking out wondering where we are."

She surrendered. She stretched herself out on the bed for a moment, groaning as she finally sat up. Daryl retrieved their clothes from the various places they had been thrown, and handed hers to her before putting on his own. She stood up after she had slipped her boots back on, moving to close the disheveled bed, but Daryl stopped her.

"Leave it. I have a feeling we're going to be coming back here real soon."

She smiled at his statement, and stretched up to kiss him, his hands moving to rest on her hips. They both startled as the voice calling their names got louder, getting closer to their hiding place.

Daryl grabbed her hand and pulled her alongside him as they reluctantly left the room. Once they were out in the hallway, they only had to go around a few corners before running right smack into Glenn, who was just about to call their names again. He stepped back, startled by their sudden appearance. On closer inspection, he was even more surprised by the fact that their hands were clasped tightly together. Seeing the look that was on Daryl's face, he decided to ignore that part for now.

"Where the hell have you two been? We've been searching for you for hours. Rick is losing it."

Daryl was about to say something rude, but Carol spoke up first. "I'm so sorry Glenn, we were just exploring the prison a little bit and we kind of fell asleep. I asked Daryl to go with me. It was just a stupid mistake. I'll go apologize to Rick right now." she said, already moving in the direction of the cell block. Daryl didn't say anything, just gently pulled his hand from hers as they walked silently, Glenn following close behind, more confused than anything.

When they reached the cell block, Daryl could see that Rick was pissed. He was pacing back and forth along the catwalk, mumbling softly to himself. When he spotted them enter, a brief flash of relief washed over his face, quickly followed by a look of anger. "Just where in the hell were you two? It's after midnight. I've had every person in the group out looking for you. What the hell were you thinking, going off alone without telling anyone. What if something had happened?"

Daryl could understand his point, but it didn't stop the small bubble of rage that was beginning to form in him. He bit his tongue as Carol finally spoke.

"I'm sorry Rick, this is my fault. I made Daryl come with me. It was thoughtless and I should have told someone where I was going. Nothing bad happened, we just fell asleep. I'm sorry." she said quietly, hey eyes downcast.

Rick threw his hands up. "You're sorry? That don't really make me feel better Carol. Everyone put themselves in danger to look for you, and all you can say is you're sorry. It was a mistake? No Carol, it was just plain stupid." he yelled.

Daryl watched her flinch back from his words and the bubbling rage inside of him boiled over. He stepped forward, getting right up in Rick's face. "You ain't ever gonna speak to her like that again, do you understand me? You have no fucking idea what the hell happened. Ain't none of this her fault. We needed some time alone, and I fucked up and let us fall asleep. That's it. It was my doing, and if you wanna get all tough and yell at someone, yell at me. But I'm warning you right now, you ever call her stupid again, it don't matter that we're friends, I will shoot an arrow so deep in your ass it's gonna come back out through your balls."

Rick stepped back, in a small state of shock. Daryl hadn't spoken to him like that in such a long time that he had almost forgotten how intense the man could get. He looked at Carol, and when he saw the look on her face, he immediately regretted almost every word he had said to her, at least the way he had said them.

"Carol, I'm sorry I said those things to you. I didn't mean to get so angry, it's just that with what happened to Lori, and to T-Dog. I need to know where everyone is. We all thought we lost you once, and when we couldn't find you tonight, I panicked. We all love you Carol, you're family. I'm sorry I got so upset, but I worry about you. Can you please forgive me for the way I spoke to you?" Rick said sincerely.

Daryl felt himself begin to calm as she looked up, and nodded. Rick pulled her in for a hug, squeezing her tightly for a moment before releasing her. "Thank you Carol. I'm just glad you're back, safe and sound."

Rick looked at Daryl then, and nodded, eyes expressing his apology. Daryl simply nodded in return, accepting it. The air in the room was tense. Everyone was gathered around, but no one really spoke. Deciding that he would be the one to break the silence, Glenn grinned as he spoke. "So guess what, when I found these two, they were holding hands."

Carol could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as she heard his words, and she quickly looked at Daryl, readying herself to stop him if he tried to punch the young man in the face. He just stepped closer to her and took her hand back into his own. He glanced at her for a second before turning his glare on Glenn. "Yeah, we were. Somethin' wrong with that? You and Maggie been sneaking all over this prison since we got here, doing a whole lot more than that. You got a problem with a man holding his woman's hand?" he said.

Glenn was still smiling and when he heard Daryl call Carol his woman, he just laughed. "No problem at all man. I was happy to see the two of you together. We've all been placing bets on when you two would finally hook up, and it looks like I just won." He looked around to the rest of the group, and put his hand out. "Pay up people. You each owe me a pack of candy. Don't care what kind. I'm not picky."

Everyone grumbled and made their way into their cells, coming back out with various packages of sweets. Glenn was quite pleased with himself as he collected his winnings, his hands overflowing with stale chocolate bars and bags of skittles and gummy bears. Even Carl emerged from his cell, barely opening his eyes as he dropped his last pack of M&M's on top of the pile and made his way back into his room, mumbling under his breath.

Everyone seemed in better spirits, bitching about the loss of their candy, but smiling and laughing. They began to break apart, saying goodnight to each other as they each made their way back into their cells.

Daryl and Carol were left standing together in the middle of the catwalk, in a bit of a state of shock.

"Daryl, am I still asleep?"

He glanced sideways at her, noting the confused expression on her face. "No, you're awake. Why?"

She smiled softly as she looked at him, her expression changing to one of amusement "I thought I was still dreaming. That was not how I pictured that going. No one even seemed surprised. They were betting on us, for goodness sake. Has it been that obvious this whole time? Were we that transparent?"

He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "You were. I'm pretty damn good at hiding my emotions, if you haven't noticed that by now."

She looked up at him, trying to look annoyed but still smiling. "Hey, I'm good at hiding things. I kept Lori and Shane's secret, I didn't tell a soul when I caught Maggie and Glenn sneaking around back on the farm, I didn't even say anything when I saw Michonne kissing Rick. Hell, I've been hiding bruises for months now."

Her words suddenly brought him back to reality. The bruises, her cancer. He had almost forgotten about them for a moment. He watched her smile fade a little bit as she realized what she had said. But he didn't get angry or upset. He just leaned in and kissed her again, before pulling back and smiling at her. "I'm sorry. You are very good at keeping secrets. Forgive me for doubting you?" he said sincerely.

"You're forgiven. Just don't do it again."

They slowly walked through the block, still hand in hand as they made their way to her cell. He stopped when they reached Glenn and Maggie's room. He smirked at her, before releasing her hand and creeping quietly past the curtain. She heard the sound of a fist meeting muscle, followed by a loud yelp and the sound of Maggie laughing. He emerged a second later, and dropped three Hershey bars and a bag of M&M's into her hand. He just grinned as she smiled at him, quite happy with her gift. "I read somewhere that chocolate is good for you when you're sick. Since we're the reason why he got all that stuff, I figuredt he wouldn't mind sharing"

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. "It didn't sound like he wanted to share."

Daryl shrugged as they continued to walk. "Just needed a little convincing. Don't get your panties in a twist, I only punched him in the arm. Didn't even hit him that hard, don't know why he yelled like that. Maggie thought it was pretty funny."

They finally came to a stop in front of her room. She pulled back the curtain to enter, but he hesitated. She stopped when she felt it, and turned around to face him. "What's wrong."

"Nothin, I just… are you sure you want me in there? Bed is kind of small and you know everybody is gonna be teasing you when they see me coming out of there in the morning." he said quietly, shuffling his feet.

"Daryl, what happened to your little show of bravado. I don't really care what anyone thinks and I know you don't either. Let them tease, I can always get you to punch tem for me like you did Glenn. And as for the bed, I could always sleep on top of you. There would be a whole lot more room then."

He could feel his cock twitch as a vision of her on top of him, naked and writhing, entered his mind. He pushed his other thoughts away as he kissed her hard, pushing them past the curtain and into the room, coming to a stop when her back collided with the wall. He could feel her wince, and he pulled back, seeing the pained look on her face. "Shit, Carol, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? I kind of got carried away."

She shook the pain away and looked up at him with a spark in her eyes. "I'm fine. It's okay. I like when you get carried away. Don't stop." she said, crushing her lips back against his. They fought for dominance, their hands roaming all over each other's bodies as they kissed. He pulled away from her for just a moment, trying to catch his breath enough to speak. "Are you tired, do you want to stop?"

She gazed up at him, heat radiating from her flushed face as she panted out her answer. "Not tired…Slept before… don't need it…need you…." She quickly unhooked her pants and slid them down over her feet, kicking them to the side. She left her shirt on, not wanting the cold stone wall to be the only thing against her back. Daryl placed his hands on the wall, watching her as she slipped her panties off and ran her hand down between her legs, showing him what she wanted. He placed his hand over hers, seeing the way she touched herself, hearing her whimpers whenever she touched her clit, feeling her begin to shake as she repeated the motion, again and again. His eyes were locked on hers as he gently pulled her hand away, and replaced it with his own. He could feel how hot she was, how wet. He slipped a finger inside of her, collecting some of her moisture before moving the tip of his finger to her hard little button. He had never done this before, and he tested things out, rubbing slow circles around it, pinching it lightly, flicking back and forth over it until he could feel her begin to tremble. He sped his motions up, his hand practically vibrating against her as she bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to contain her cry. Her orgasm hit her hard and she nearly collapsed to the ground, but Daryl dropped his other hand from the wall, and moved it to her ass, supporting her as the aftershocks of her pleasure hit her. She finally stilled and her breathing began to even out. He was about to release her when her eyes opened and she looked at him, just as hungry as before. She reached out and unbuckled his pants, roughly pulling them down his thighs, freeing his swollen cock from its restraints. She lifted her leg and wrapped it around him. "Please, I need more."

That was all he needed to hear. He lifted her up, her legs wrapping tightly around his back as he entered her in one sharp thrust. Her arms wound themselves around his neck as she kissed him, sucking and biting at his lips as he moved against her, pounding himself into her again and again, harder and faster until he couldn't take much more. She was right there, and she whispered hotly into his ear just as her orgasm struck her. "Come for me Daryl."

That was it. With one final grunt, he spilled himself into her, panting as he tried to hold her weight when his arms became weak. She slowly unwrapped her legs from his waist and lowered herself down , her feet gently meeting the floor as he collapsed against her, resting his head in the crook of her neck. When they had both pulled themselves together, he pulled his jeans back up, tucking himself back in as he carefully pulled up the zipper. He brought her along with him as he laid down on the bed, pulling her close as he spread the blanket over them. They didn't speak, they didn't need to. They had said enough that day. Right now they were together and that was all that mattered.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Working on the next chapter right now. Hopefully if will be up in a few hours. Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. You guys are awesome. Hope you're liking the story so far. Read on.**

* * *

Daryl opened his eyes at the sound of a soft moan beside him. Carol was lying there, still wrapped in his arms, a grimace on her face as she pressed her hand to her head. "Carol?" he said quietly, not wanting to scare her.

She opened her eyes for a split second before tightly squeezing them shut again. "Daryl, I didn't mean to wake you."

Fear gripped him as he moved himself to look at her. She was pale, her small bruises standing out even more against the white of her skin. Her body was tense and the look of pain on her face was enough to make his heart break. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I just have a headache. I get them all the time. It'll go away soon, they never last very long." she replied, her pain evident in just her voice.

He placed his hand on top of the one she held against her temple, his fingers brushing against the skin on her forehead. She was burning up. He moved to pull himself away from her, ready to go get Hershel. But she just gripped him tighter.

"I know what you're gonna do, but you can't. It'll go away soon, just stay here with me."

Daryl was torn between his need to help her and the promise he had made her not to tell anyone about her condition. He decided after a moment of thought that he was going to try and do both. "Carol, I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I'm just going to get you something for the pain. I'm only going to be gone a second, okay? I'll be right back." He pulled himself from her before she had a chance to argue, and crept quietly out to the perch where all of his stuff was. He quickly located the bottle of pain pills that had been left over from his brother's stash. He grabbed a bottle of water and a rag before making his way back to her. Sitting down on the bed, he heard her moan again. He gently moved her head to his lap, and poured some of the cold water on the rag, placing it on her forehead. She seemed so weak, she didn't even fight him as he placed a pill in her mouth and gave her a sip of water. She opened her eyes for a moment, gazing up at him with a grateful look. "Thank you." she said quietly, closing her eyes again. He didn't say anything, just held her and watched her until he could see that the tension was leaving her body, her face beginning to relax as the medicine took effect. After a while, he removed the wet rag from her skin, and though she was still too warm, her fever had broken. He was scared to move. She looked so fragile right now. Suddenly everything became so much more real to him. He knew she was sick, he knew she was going to die. It was killing him inside, but he knew that was the way things were. But seeing her like this, so weak, in so much pain. It hurt him so deeply that he wanted to scream. This wasn't fair. She didn't deserve it. As the first faint rays of morning sun entered the room, Daryl watched as she opened her eyes. She looked like she was on the brink of tears when she saw his worried face above her. She hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I'm sorry Daryl."

He was confused by her statement. "What the hell you sorry for?" he asked softly.

A few tears rolled down her cheeks but she didn't break down. "I'm sorry for this. Last night was so wonderful, and I ruined it."

He couldn't believe it. She was apologizing to him for her pain ruining their night together. He felt his temper rising, but he bit it back. Getting mad at her sure wasn't going to help anything. He moved his hand to her face, rubbing his thumb across her wet cheek. "Carol, don't do that. Nothin' was ruined. Even with all this, it was still the best damn night of my life. I knew what I was getting myself into when I told you I loved you. A headache and a fever ain't gonna change that." He moved to lie back down beside her, watching the look on her face as she processed his words.

"It was the best night of mine, too." she said quietly, closing the small distance between them and kissing him tenderly on the lips. When she pulled away, he was smiling at her.

"Are you feelin' better?"

She nodded softly. "It's gone now. Fever too. I get one every time the headache comes."

He was relieved that her pain had subsided, but he knew that it would return. He didn't know what else he could do. He was a man of action, if there was a problem he'd figure out a way to fix it. But there was no solution to be found here. This is what his life was going to be. He could help her, try and make her life a little better while she was still here, but in the end there was nothing more he could do but watch her die. And she knew that. She had warned him that this wouldn't be easy, and she had been right. But he had meant what he said. He needed her, now and for as long as he could hold on to her. They laid together for a while longer, a new kind of understanding between them. He had seen everything now, and he wasn't running.

Carol finally broke the silence between them. "Daryl, we need to get up. You need to go hunting and I have work to do."

He knew she was right about him needing to hunt, but there was no way that she was working today, not after the hell she had just been through. He pulled himself away from her, standing up next to the bed. She moved to follow, but he gently pushed he back down. She looked up at him with a confused expression. "Daryl, I need to work. I can't do that from this bed."

He shook his head, a stern look on his face. "No. I ain't letting you do that. You just spent over an hour with your head in my lap, looking like someone split your skull open. You need to rest for awhile."

She gently pushed away his hand from where it was still resting on her shoulder. She sat up on the edge of the bed, never taking her eyes off his. "I need to work. I need to move. I can't just lie here and wait for things to get worse. They're going to one way or another, but right now I need to do what I always do. I can't live my life if all I'm doing is waiting for it to end."

She was right. He knew it and so did she. It didn't mean he liked it. "Carol, I'm just worried about you. It killed me seeing you like that this morning. It killed me when I had to pick you up and carry you into this cell because you were so weak you couldn't even hold yourself up. I just don't understand why you're pushing yourself like this."

"I'm pushing myself because it's all I know how to do. Everyone needs me. I have to do what I can to help them while I have the chance."

He sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand. "I know you want to help, but do you think for a second that if everyone else knew what was going on that they'd be letting you work the way you do. Think about it, when you're gone, do you think anyone is going to care that you left them with clean clothes or full stomachs. They are going to be angry with themselves for not seeing what was going on. For not taking some of the load off of you. I still think you need to tell the group that you're sick."

She looked at him, knowing he was right. But she wasn't ready. Not yet. "I'll tell them soon. I promise you that. I just want a few more days. A few more happy days before I tell everyone. Can you give me that?"

He nodded. He suddenly had an idea. "I can give you that if you'll do something for me. Come with me today?"

She couldn't hide her smile when she heard his request. "You want me to go hunting with you? Me? I'm not a very good shot, if you haven't noticed. Nearly took Rick's foot off the first day we came here."

He chuckled a little bit at the memory of Carol on the watchtower, shakily wielding a rifle that was way too heavy for her to have been shooting in the first place. He also remembered later that night, the way she had leaned into his touch when he had tried to rub the pain from the kickback out of her shoulder. The way she had teased him, asking him if he wanted to screw around. He had loved her even then, but he was too much of a pussy to tell her that. He just laughed it off and changed the subject. Looking back, he wished that he had taken her up on it. They would've had so much more time together. But he was happy with the time they had now and he was determined to make the most of it. He shook the memory away as she looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"I want you to come with me. I ain't asking you to shoot nothin', not even asking you to carry it. Just want you with me. Beth and Maggie can handle things here for one more day. It won't even be that hard, just a nice quiet walk in the woods."

She was convinced. "Okay, I'll go with you. But I'm not going along just to stand there while you do all the work. I'm not that fragile, I don't think carrying a couple of dead squirrels is going to do me in."

He leaned forward and kissed her. "Stubborn ass woman." he said affectionately when he pulled away.

She smiled and pulled him back to her for one more kiss. "I am stubborn, and don't you forget it."

Daryl was already dressed, never having taken his clothes off the night before. He picked Carol's jeans up from the floor and handed them to her. She stood up and slipped them on, not even bothering to find her panties, something that had not gone unnoticed by Daryl. She looked down at her shirt, and after a moment of thought, peeled it off and slipped on a clean red tank top. She was reaching for her familiar brown cardigan when Daryl stopped her. "It's too hot out there for this. I don't need you passin' out on me again."

She looked at him, still touched by his concern. "It's okay. I'll take it off as soon as we get in the woods."

He agreed and she threw the thin sweater on, shielding her bruises. He grabbed his crossbow and his bag of hunting gear and they made their way down into the common room. Everyone was sitting around eating breakfast and when they saw the couple enter, hand in hand, they all looked up, mumbling greetings. Daryl was prepared for the comments, the questions about he and Carol's newfound relationship, but they never came. It was as if nothing had changed, as if he and Carol had always been together. Maybe they had been? The only difference was that now they knew it. Daryl pulled Carol over to the stove, pouring them each a cup of coffee. He grabbed them each a plate of food and they made their way over to the table where Rick and Michonne sat, going over plans for a run. menu both looked up when he and Carol sat down. They were both smiling but neither one said a word. "Everyone is acting so damn weird this morning." Daryl thought to himself as he chewed his tasteless eggs. Carol was just picking at her food, and took a few bites before pushing it onto Daryl's plate when he wasn't looking. When they had finished eating, Daryl stood up and dropped their dishes in the sink. Carol followed close behind him, wondering how she was going to ask Beth to do her chores today. Daryl took care of that worry.

"I'm takin' Carol huntin' with me. Ya'll think you can manage without her takin' care of you all day?" he announced to the group.

Beth spoke up before anyone else got the chance. "I can do everything here. I kind of like having something to do all day other than sit around and worry."

Carol looked at the young blonde girl. "Thank you sweetie. I appreciate that. I just thought it would be nice for me to get out of here for a while. Learn to do something besides cooking and cleaning."

Everyone agreed, and wished them good luck as they began to make their way from the room. Daryl stopped when he heard Glenn call from behind them.

"Watch out for poison ivy. It's a bitch if you get it in, um, sensitive areas."

There is was. The comment he had been waiting for. Figured it would be Glenn to make it. Daryl didn't get angry, just smirked as he called back over his shoulder. "Shut it Glenn, unless you want a matching fist print on your other arm." He heard Maggie giggle and he led Carol out into the yard with a look of satisfaction on his face.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Updates soon. Please review! I'm a little unsure about this story right now and I would love to hear your thoughts. Constructive criticism welcome.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:Thanks to everyone for your awesome reviews. You rock. So, things are about to get very interesting for our favorite couple. Please read on and enjoy.**

* * *

They walked through the woods for hours, not really speaking but comfortable in the silence. There was surprisingly little movement around them. They had only managed to come across half a dozen squirrels and one pitifully small rabbit. The kills were all stored in the bag that Carol had insisted on carrying. Daryl had fought her at first, but had given up when she snatched it from his hands and slung the strap across her chest, a triumphant look on her face. They also had not come across more than a few biters, the slow, groaning monsters scattered throughout the trees. Daryl had taken them out with no problem and they hadn't seen another one in over an hour. He was just about to suggest they head back when they stumbled onto the pond. He had seen it before, but had never really paid it much mind. There were no fish in it and to him it served no real purpose. But Carol's eyes lit up when she saw the pool of clear, still water, surrounded by grass and wildflowers. She stopped walking and Daryl turned around to come and stand beside her. "Why'd you stop?"

She smiled up at him, already pulling the strap of the bag over her head. "I want to go swimming."

He raised an eyebrow as he watched her begin to kick off her boots. "You ain't wasting no time, are you?" he said in amusement as he watched her clothes drop in a pile next to her boots. She finally unclasped her bra and dropped it with the rest of her things before diving gracefully into the water. When her head popped back up, she was smiling brighter than he had ever seen before.

"Come on Daryl, the water is so nice. It's not even that cold." she said, trying to convince him to join her.

He smiled as he crossed his arms and leaned his back against a tree near the bank. "You go right ahead and enjoy your swim. I'm just fine where I'm at."

She laughed and splashed a little water at him. "Come on, please? What's the matter, don't you know how to swim?" she asked teasingly.

"Of course I know how to. Don't mean I like it."

She swam a little closer to the bank, looking up at him with curiosity. "Why don't you like swimming?"

"When I was a kid, about six or so, Me and Merle were out in the woods one day, just messin around, when we came across this big creek. It looked deep as hell, and I didn't really want to go swimming but Merle started calling me a pussy. I wasn't about to take that shit, so I stripped down to my shorts and jumped right in. My feet never even touched the bottom it was so deep. But I was a pretty strong swimmer, so I didn't really mind. I stayed in the water for awhile, trying to get Merle to come in with me. But he wouldn't do it. Just stood there on the bank with this stupid smirk on his face, watchin' me. So, after a little longer, I finally got out of the water. Merle just started laughing. I thought he'd gone crazy from the way he was cracking up, until I looked down and saw that I had leeches all over me. Turned out, the asshole knew the water was full of the damn things and he didn't tell me. Least he helped me pick the fuckers off. But I ain't really liked water ever since."

"Daryl, Merle was a jerk. But that isn't any reason for you to be scared of water. There isn't anything in here. I don't even think there's any fish. Will you please come in, for me?"

He was about to tell her he wasn't scared of no fucking water, but he bit his tongue. She was looking up at him, her big blue eyes wide with expectation. "Alright." he said begrudgingly, quickly shedding his clothes and stepping cautiously into the water. She hadn't been lying, it wasn't very cold. He stepped out a bit further, feeling his foot go out from under him as he hit a drop off in the water and suddenly found himself submerged. When he came back to the surface, coughing and sputtering from the water he had swallowed, he was surprised to hear Carol laughing. She swam over to him, looking a little concerned, but mostly amused. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked, barely holding in her chuckle.

He glared at her for a second, but the look only made her laugh more. "It ain't fuckin funny woman." he said, trying to sound pissed. She just smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her lips to his for a moment, before breaking free and swimming further into the water. She grinned as she spoke.

"I'm sorry Daryl, but that was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time."

He wasn't really mad at her, it probably had been pretty funny from her point of view. But she was openly teasing him now, and no one got away with that, not even her. He took a deep breath and dunked himself under the water, kicking hard as he swam towards her until he could see her legs. He reached out and grabbed her by the ankles, pulling her under for a second before releasing her and coming to the surface himself. She was the one spitting up water now, and it took everything he had not to laugh. But he didn't. Just waited for her to open her eyes and look at him. When she did, she had a strange fire in her eyes that he had never seen before. He was about to say something when her hand shot up out of the water and splashed a huge wave at him. It was on now. They battled in the water, splashing and dunking each other, Daryl even picking her up and throwing her across the pond at one point. But he could see that she was getting tired and he finally surrendered, swimming over to her and wrapping an arm around her waist as they both treaded water. "I'm sorry I pulled you under."

She leaned her head on his shoulder and spoke softly. "I'm sorry I laughed at you when you went under. We even now?"

He kissed her gently on the top of her head. "Yeah, I think we're even. We should probably be heading back now. We need to get our kills back to Beth so she can get them cookin'."

She didn't argue. Daryl climbed out of the water first, reaching back and pulling her up onto the bank behind him. They let the sun dry them for a few minutes before they started to dress. Daryl had his clothes back on in a flash, and watched as Carol pulled on hers. She had just slipped her boots on when she suddenly looked up at him. "Daryl, I'll be right back. I kind of have to take care of something."

He chuckled as he watched her standing there, shifting her weight from leg to leg. "Go on, you ain't got to be so shy about it. Go pee, but hurry up. We really need to be heading back before we lose the light."

She nodded and dashed off into the cover of the trees. He got caught up in his thoughts for a second. She seemed so good today. After the headache she'd had this morning, she had seemed to brighten up. If he didn't know better, he wouldn't have seen anything wrong with her, aside from the fading bruises. A thought entered his brain, and for a split second he wanted to believe that she was wrong. That she wasn't really sick. But he trusted her judgment, and he knew that if she said she was sick then she truly believed that she was. Still, he wanted to hold on to that little thread of hope. He tucked the thought away, into the back of his mind. He glanced at the trees, wondering what was taking her so long. He was just about to call her name when he suddenly heard the sound of a terrified scream. Her scream. He grabbed his bow and raced towards the spot that the sound had come from. He could see her standing there, her small knife clutched in her outstretched hand. He looked up to see that the source of her fear was staring at him, his mouth open as he slowly raised his hands, dropping the baseball bat he carried to the ground. The young man looked terrified as he spoke.

"Please sir, don't shoot me with that thing. I didn't mean to do it, I swear to god I thought she was a geek when I hit her. I'm sorry. Please don't kill me?" he begged.

Daryl never took his aim off of the stranger before him. He glanced at Carol quickly and saw that she had a small trickle of blood running down the side of the face. "Carol, what the fuck happened here?"

"I was standing here and I didn't hear him come up behind me. I'm okay though. He only clipped me with the end of the bat."

Daryl was fuming as he looked down at the man who was now on his knees. "Who the hell are you?"

The man didn't look up but answered. "My name is Eric King. I was traveling with a small group of survivors, but our camp got overrun 5 days ago. My wife was killed. Everyone was killed. I've been running ever since. Ran out of food and ammo. That bat was all I had left. I'm so sorry I hit her. I didn't know. Please? What are you going to do to me?"

Daryl looked at Carol, she had lowered her knife but was still clutching it tightly. "Carol, what do you think we should do with him? Kill him now or take him back to Rick?"

Carol thought about it for a second, and Daryl could see the conflict written on her face. She finally spoke, leaning towards him and whispering. "We need to take him with us. I don't know why but I believe him. I think his group is gone. We need to at least ask Rick what he thinks."

Daryl nodded. He stepped behind Eric and pointed his bow at his back. "Stand up man, it's your lucky day. My woman decided you get to live for now. Don't say a word and stay three steps in front of us. You try anything , and you'll have an arrow through your heart before you can even turn around. You understand?"

Eric nodded and did as he was told, standing up and walking in the direction he was pointed in. He looked up at Carol as he passed by her, his expression grateful. They stopped for a moment, collecting their bag of game and gear from the back of the water before beginning the walk back to the prison.

The stranger had not spoken a single word by the time they approached the prison gates, just as the sun began to set. Daryl whistled a signal to Glenn and the gate was pulled open for them to enter. Glenn was alarmed by the presence of the silent man and pulled Carol aside, leaving Daryl to guard their new friend. "Carol, who is he? And what happened to your head? Are you okay?" Glenn asked quietly.

"We came across him out in the woods. He said his group was killed almost a week ago and he's just been running. He clipped me with a baseball bat. Thought I was a walker. I'm fine though, it looks worse than it is."

"Why did you bring him back here?"

Carol wasn't really sure what had motivated her to decide to spare him. She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't really know. He just doesn't seem dangerous. As soon as he realized I wasn't a walker, he dropped his bat and started backing off. If he had really wanted to hurt me he could have. I just thought we could give him a chance. He said he lost his wife. I felt bad for him."

Glenn sighed. "Just don't be surprised if Rick sends him right back out there. You know how he feels about strangers."

Daryl had been listening to them and spoke up. "Don't even know if we're letting him stay yet. Locking him up as soon as we get inside. We'll let Rick decide."

Glenn accepted the answer and wished them luck as he made his way back up into the guard tower. Daryl told Eric to move and the three of them made their way into the prison, finding the common room empty. Daryl shoved Eric into the small holding cell and locked the door. The young man still didn't speak, just looked at them, his expression scared as he sat down on the bench. Daryl told him to stay put, and he and Carol made their way down to the cell block in search of the rest of the group. When they entered, they found Rick, Michonne and Hershel sitting at the small table, playing cards. Rick looked up when they entered, and from the look that came onto his face, Carol knew he was looking at her head. She gave a small smile as she saw him jump up from his chair. "I'm fine Rick, I just hit my head. It's nothing."

Rick stopped short, but his expression didn't change. She saw his eyes scan her and when she looked down she realized why. Her sweater was still in the bag she had slung over her shoulder, her arms were bare and every single bruise that marred her pale skin was visible. She looked at Daryl, and when he saw the fear on her face, he suddenly realized the same thing. They both looked at Rick, who was now blatantly staring at her. He took a few steps forward, and reached out to lightly brush her arm. Carol was expecting him to say something to her, but was surprised when his eyes suddenly turned dark, and his gaze moved from her to Daryl.

After what felt like an eternity, Rick finally spoke, glaring at Daryl as he did. "Daryl, what the hell did you do to her?"

* * *

**So, a bit of a cliffhanger, but I should have the next chapter up by tomorrow. Thanks for reading and please review.**


	9. Chapter 9

Daryl felt like the wind had been knocked out of him as he heard Rick spit the accusatory words. "How could he think that I would do that to her?" he thought for a split second before he saw Rick begin to raise his fist. He was just about to do the same when Carol stepped in front of him. She was angry, one look at her face told him that. She stepped up to Rick, who had lowered his hand, and shot him a look that could kill.

"Are you serious? Did I really just hear you ask Daryl what he did to me? Are you insane? That man has saved all our asses more times than I can count, mine especially, and you think that he just suddenly decided that he was going to use me as a punching bag. I know that your mind hasn't been quite right since we lost Lori, but you're starting to get paranoid if you really think that Daryl could ever hurt me. He isn't Ed, or Merle, or Shane. He's your best friend. How could you think that about him?" she said, her voice cracking. She didn't back down. She studied him intently as he processed her words.

Rick was speechless. She was right. He looked up at Daryl, his friend. He looked angry, but underneath it he just looked hurt. He tried to say something to him, but he couldn't find the words. He looked back at Carol, who was still glaring at him, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest as if she was trying to hold herself together. "Carol…I….I didn't mean it. I jumped to conclusions. But what happened to you? Where did all those bruises come from?"

She softened a little bit, but quickly moved to divert the attention from herself. "It doesn't matter right now. We have more important things to worry about. Like the guy who did this." she said, pointing to the cut on her head. "We came across him out in the woods. He took a swing at me with a bat, thought I was a walker. Not a very good shot though. He said he lost his wife and his group to a herd. I think he's telling the truth. We brought him here, I thought maybe we could help him. God knows we could use another pair of hands. His name is Eric, we have him locked in the holding cell in the kitchen."

Rick didn't look angry or alarmed, his expression was strangely blank. He walked past them towards the kitchen, Michonne and Hershel right behind him, leaving Carol and Daryl alone to process what had just happened.

Carol turned around to face him, her heart breaking when she saw the darkness that had crept into his eyes. He tried to look away from her, but she reached up and placed her hand on his cheek, keeping his focus on her. "Daryl, you okay?"

He nodded, not really sure if it was true or not. After all this time, it was now clear to him what Rick really thought of him. He thought he was nothing more than some violent, redneck piece of shit. Maybe he was right. Maybe he wasn't any better than his old man. He may not have hit her, but he could see that among the random spots on her arms, were a clear set of fingerprints, left there when he had picked her up to toss her into the water at the pond. What was wrong with him? He hadn't thought about it at the time, he'd been so caught up in playing around with her that it hadn't even occurred to him that he might hurt her further. He thought back to the night before, the way he had slammed her into the wall, so greedy for her that he hadn't even bothered to get her into bed. He felt sick to his stomach.

Carol could see the storm of thoughts that were going through his head, the way he looked down at his hand prints on her arm and wouldn't meet her eyes again. He wasn't doing this, not now. "Daryl…Daryl." she said, quietly the first time before raising her voice the second. He snapped his gaze up to meet hers, and she grabbed the front of his shirt and crushed her lips to his. She waited for a second but he didn't respond, just stood there, tense, practically flinching away from her. She pulled back and looked at him. She knew damn well what he was thinking. He was acting like he was afraid to touch her. "Hey, don't do that. I know what you're thinking and you didn't hurt me. I've felt better in the last few days than I have in weeks. And you did that. Don't worry about the bruises, it's wasn't your fault. You could flick me these days and it would leave a mark. Daryl, will you please say something? Tell me that you know I'm right?"

He looked at her, her blue eyes gazing up at him with so much trust, so much love that it made his heart ache. But he couldn't do it, he couldn't tell her that he was okay with the fact that he had done that to her. He pulled himself away from her grasp, and turned his back to her. He couldn't handle this. He took a few steps towards the kitchen, muttering coldly over his shoulder. "I can't do this. I need to go see what we're doing with Eric."

She watched him walk away, never even stopping to look back and see if she was following him. She could feel the pain in her head begin to spread as she stumbled backwards, collapsing onto the step behind her. "What the hell did I do? I'm such an idiot." she thought as she dropped her head to her hands and began to cry. "Why didn't I just put my sweater back on? Why did Rick have to say that? Things were so good and I screwed it all up. It's going to take so long to get him to open back up to me and I don't have that kind of time left. Why did I let this happen? I should have just ended this when I had the chance, but I couldn't even kill myself right." Her mind was flooded with so many thoughts that she couldn't keep them straight. Her head was starting to pound and she struggled to stand, making her way up to her cell slowly and falling onto the bed. She didn't even bother to take her boots off before she curled herself into a ball and cried, hot tears streaming down her face as she lay there. She didn't move. She could feel herself getting numb as she lay there, her sobbing slowly fading away, leaving her with nothing but emptiness. She didn't care what happened to Eric, or to Rick. The only thought in her head was Daryl, the way he had spoken to her so coldly, the way he had flinched away from her touch. Things were never going to be the same. It had only just begun and it was already over. She wiped away the last of her tears, and finally just let the darkness take her, not fighting it as she let her exhaustion wash over her and drag her down into sleep.

* * *

Daryl entered the kitchen silently, making his way over to where Rick was unlocking the cell with a smile on his face. The rest of the group was scattered throughout the room, watching the scene as if they had no idea what was going on. Eric stood up, and cautiously stepped out of the cage, looking at Rick with a curious expression. Suddenly, a smile crept onto his lips and he pulled Rick in, hugging him tightly.

"Oh my god, Rick? Is it really you? We thought you were dead. You were still in the hospital when I managed to escape. How are you here?" he asked as he pulled away.

"It's a long story man, a very long story." he replied as he threw his arm over Eric's shoulder and turned to face the rest of the group, seeing that they were all watching him with confusion on their faces.

He smiled as he explained. "Everyone, this is Eric King. He's a good friend of mine from back home. He was the head doctor in the emergency room, took care of all the drunks and overdoses I had to haul in. He's a good man, you can trust him."

Daryl watched as the rest of the group slowly made their way over to the two men, quietly introducing themselves. He didn't approach, just stood back, quietly absorbing the new development. Finally, Rick looked at him, his happy expression clouded by the tension between them. Eric stepped towards him, extending his hand, which he reluctantly reached out and shook.

"Sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Daryl, right? I swear to you man, I really didn't mean to hurt her. I lost my glasses awhile back and when I saw her in front of me, I just swung. At least I didn't really hurt her, right?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the man. "You'd be dead right now if you had." he replied.

Rick looked around the room for a moment, and seeing that Carol wasn't there, he finally gathered the courage to speak to Daryl. "Hey man, where is she? Is she still mad at me? Are you? I'm really sorry brother, I didn't even think about it before it came out of my mouth. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. I know you wouldn't hurt her, you love her, it's pretty damn obvious. Can you accept my apology?"

Daryl just nodded, he had much bigger problems right now than fighting with Rick. "Yeah man, whatever. Carol is in the cell block, she's probably just tired from me dragging her ass through the woods all day. I'm going out to relieve Glenn, if Carol comes looking for me, tell her I'm in the tower."

With that he was gone, stalking out into the yard. It was a full moon tonight and the yard was bathed in a soft glowing light. He took a deep breath of the cool night air before making his way up the stairs and into the tower. Glenn looked up from the comic book he was reading, surprised to see him enter.

"Hey man, I have watch for three more hours." he said, closing his book.

Daryl just shrugged. "Thought I'd take over. Rick knows the guy we brought back with us, says they were friends back before all this shit started. They're all in there talking, figured I'd let you go join them."

Glenn stuck his book under his chair and stood up, stretching as he grabbed his rifle. "It's pretty slow out here tonight, why didn't you bring Carol with you. Good place to be alone."

Daryl had so many thoughts running through his mind, but having a tryst with Carol in the guard tower wasn't one of them. He narrowed his eyes at the Asian man, as he leaned against the railing of the balcony. "Glenn, get out of here."

Glenn just smiled and backed up, stepping through the door that led to the stairs. He popped his head back in a second later, and looked at Daryl. "Listen, I know I like to tease you guys, but I'm really happy for you two. You have both seemed happier the last few days. I just wanted to tell you I'm happy you found each other. You need love in this world. It's the only thing we have left that's worth living for."

He didn't wait for a reply and was gone before Daryl even had a chance to thank him. Finally alone, he sat down on the chair and stared out into the clear night sky. His brain wouldn't shut up and for a man of few words, his mind had plenty. "What did I do? Why did I leave her there like that? I promised her I wasn't going to do that to her and here I am, sitting up here, too much of a pussy to handle some stupid comment. She didn't blame me, she wasn't mad at me. But nope, I get one good thing in my life and my fucked up past has to come along and kill it. I know I ain't like my old man, I ain't never hit a woman in my life. But I did hurt her, even if she doesn't see it that way. She's sick and I'm dragging her all over the place, fucking her up against a wall, throwing her around like she's a rag doll. What the fuck was I thinking. I should have never done this. I should have never told her I loved her. But it's too late, I can't take it back now. She was so happy today. We're finally getting to be what she always wanted and I go and fuck it all up. I need to make this right, I can't let it end like this. She ain't leaving this world thinking that I don't love her more than anything else in it."

He suddenly wished that he hadn't been so quick to take watch. He wanted to go find her and tell her he was sorry, that he was an asshole, that he would do whatever she wanted just so long as she forgave him. But it was going to have to wait until someone came to relieve him. He sat there anxiously for an hour or so. Glenn had been right, there was nothing going on, only two walkers along the fence. He found himself glancing at the prison, secretly hoping that Carol would come gliding through the doors, coming up to the tower and yelling at him before kissing him and forgiving him just like she always did. But she never came. Instead, he saw that Maggie had come running through the door instead, racing out into the yard as she yelled his name. Panic struck him and he ran out to meet her. She was panting for breath as she spoke.

"Daryl, there's something wrong with Carol. She's in her bed, awake, but she won't say a word to anyone. And she's covered in bruises. What's wrong with her?"

Daryl didn't stick around long enough to answer her question. He was racing towards the prison, not stopping until he came to her cell. Rick, Michonne and Glenn were standing outside her door, the worry apparent on their faces. Daryl tried to push his way into the room but Rick reached out and grabbed him, pulling him back.

"Hershel is in there with her right now, he said it looks like she might have a concussion. I sent Eric out to guard the tower with Carl and Beth. Daryl, please, I'm not accusing you of anything, but you know something that you aren't telling us. Where did those bruises come from? What's going on?"

Daryl watched as Maggie came from behind him and stood next to Glenn. Four pairs of eyes were now staring at him, waiting for an explanation. He needed to get in there, to get to her. And if breaking a promise to her was the only way to do that, then he would deal with the consequences later. Hershel stepped out of the cell and joined the rest of the group.

He took a deep breath and finally spoke. "Carol is sick. She has been for months and she's been keeping it from everyone. She only told me after she passed out in the yard. She has cancer."

He watched as disbelief came to the faces of his friends. Maggie started to cry and Glenn pulled her against his chest, blinking back tears of his own as he looked at Daryl. Hershel and Michonne were quiet, holding their emotions in, but Rick couldn't do that. He needed to know more.

"How can she even know that? She hasn't talked to Hershel about anything. She can't be right."

Daryl could see that Rick was slowly coming undone and in spite of the tension between them, he reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She had it before. Went into remission a few months before the outbreak. She knows how she felt then and if she says it's the same now, then it is. I've seen it. She has those bruises everywhere. She's tired and weak and she doesn't even eat anymore. She had a headache just this morning that scared the hell out of me. She ain't gonna get better."

Rick looked like someone had just hit him with a truck. He stumbled back and Michonne wrapped her arm around his waist, steadying him.

Daryl could see that everyone was wrecked by his confession, but he couldn't stay here anymore. He needed to get to Carol. He stepped away from the group and slipped into the dark cell. He could see her, lying on the bed in the fetal position, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. She looked so lifeless, so cold. Seeing her this way put more fear into his heart than coming face to face with a thousand walkers.

He carefully approached her, lowering himself down to kneel next to her bed. She didn't acknowledge him, she didn't even flinch when his hand came up to rest on her cheek. She just kept staring straight ahead, her eyes on his face but not seeing him. "Carol, please, you need to say something. Say anything, yell at me, call me an asshole for running out on you. Just please say something? Please Carol, I love you."

She didn't move. She just kept staring through him as if he wasn't there. When she finally opened her mouth to speak, it was a whisper so quiet that he wasn't sure she had even said anything at all. But he heard her and what she said caused his heart to shatter into a million pieces.

"It doesn't matter anymore. None of it. I just want to die in peace."

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Working on the next chapter and hopefully, I'll be able to get it posted by tonight. Please review! Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Big thanks to everyone who has been following this story. Your response has been overwhelming and I hope that you've enjoyed it so far. Sorry that it took a while to finish this chapter. It's a bit intense and it's kind of hard for me to find the time to really get into the right frame of mind to write scenes like this, short of pounding a red bull and staying up until 3am to write while my kid is asleep. But I finally did it and truly hope that it meets your approval. Read on.**

* * *

Her words repeated over and over in his head. It didn't matter what he said to her, it was clear that she had given up. For nearly an hour, he begged her to speak, pleaded with her to move, but she said no more, just laid there in silence. He could feel himself getting more and more desperate. He finally decided that since his current efforts to snap her out of this weren't working, it was time for something more drastic. He bent down and scooped her up from the bed, meeting no resistance as her limp body settled into his arms. When he pushed through the curtain on her door, he paid no mind to the concerned faces of the group, he simply told them not to follow him as he stalked down the corridor. They didn't, they knew that if anyone could help Carol, it would be him and they trusted that whatever he was doing right now was in her best interest.

He carried her further into the prison until he came to the door of the office where she had brought him only two days before. The room where they had made love for the first time and had fallen asleep in each other's arms. It was more comfortable than her cell and was far enough away from the cell block that no one else would be able to hear what was about to happen. He kicked the door open and placed her softly down in the middle of the bed. He sat her up and propped the pillows behind her. She didn't move from the position she had been placed in. She was still, frozen, her eyes empty. He knew what he had to do. It was the only thing he could think of to snap her back into reality. He paced back and forth across the room, as his mind was consumed by the two possible outcomes. She could come to, snap out of the darkness she had fallen into and realize how wrong this was. Realize that he loved her and he was sorry. Realize that even if she only lived one more day, she couldn't live it like this, cold and empty and alone. The second possible outcome was something he didn't even want to think about. But he knew that it was his only chance of bringing her back and he was willing to take the risk. He stopped his pacing and came to stand before her, bending down and loudly calling her name one last time. As expected, she didn't even flinch. He took a few steps back from her, making sure that she would be able to fully see what he was about to do. He took a deep breath and pulled her gun from the back of his jeans. He hesitated for a spilt second, before throwing it onto the bed in front of her and speaking.

"You wanna just give up and die, that's fine. There you go. Pick it up and end this."

He watched her for any sign of response. She didn't say a word, but she slowly lowered her eyes down to the gun. Her hand was in her lap and he watched as her fingers began to twitch. She slowly began to inch her hand towards the gun, and he reached out and snatched it up before she could even get close. He placed the barrel against his temple and spoke as her eyes slowly rose to meet his.

"You want this gun, you're gonna have to use it after me. Because if you're leaving the world this way, then so am I. I'll be damned if I'm gonna stick around to see you put a bullet in your brain because of something I did. You were fine, you had accepted your fate and you were determined to make your last days count. You made me feel like I would be able to handle losing you, so long as I knew you left this world knowing that I loved you. But I fucked up, I walked away from you when you needed me the most, because I couldn't bear to think that I had hurt you. I can't even find the words to tell you how sorry I am for that. I will feel that guilt for the rest of my life. But it's up to you just how long that's gonna be. Tell me you still want to die, and I'll end this right now. Just say the words."

Her gaze was fixed on him, and he watched as her eyes began to widen and a look of fear washed over her face. It was working. She was coming around. He just had to push her a little more. He pulled the gun from his head just long enough to click the safety off and return the cold steel to his temple.

That was all it took. She opened her mouth and cried out, terror flooding her features. "Daryl, no!" Tears began streaming down her cheeks as he lowered the weapon, her body shaking from the force of her sobs as she broke down, the wall she had built around herself crumbling. He tucked the gun back into his jeans and rushed to her, pulling her into his arms as she wailed, all of the emotions she was feeling bubbling to the surface. He held her against his chest, speaking softly as he tried to comfort her.

"Carol please, it's okay now. I put the gun away. I'm so sorry I had to do that, but I didn't know what else to do. You weren't here. Your eyes were so empty. It was like you were already gone. You can't do that again. Please don't shut down on me. I need you, I can't lose you. Not yet. Not like this. I love you so much it hurts. I'm not ready to let you go yet. Please baby, just breathe. Just come back to me. I need you." he said, his words becoming more desperate with each breath. She felt so fragile in his arms, so small. She cried for what felt like an eternity, deep sobs that shook her small frame and left her gasping for air. As her crying began to fade away, she began to speak, her words escaping between sobs.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so scared. I can't do this anymore. I can't just wait around to die. I feel like I'm losing my mind. I can't spend my days being in love with you and my nights terrified of what is going to happen to you when I'm gone. I saw it myself, I saw what I'm doing to you. The way you looked at me when you thought you hurt me. I can't do that to you. Please Daryl, just let me go. I'm not worth all this. Just let me go. " she choked out.

He only held her tighter, he had no intention of ever letting her go again. "I'm not going anywhere. Do you understand? Just one smile from you, one kiss is worth more to me than anything else in this world. All I want is to make you happy, to spend our last days together the way we always should have. You didn't do anything to me Carol. You've given me more happy memories in the past three days than I've made in the last forty years. Memories that will carry me through the rest of my life, until I'm with you again. I'm the one that fucked that up. Me, my stupid issues. You ain't blaming yourself for any of this, do you hear me?"

She pulled back from his arms, looking at him and seeing that they were mirror images of each other. Red, swollen, tear filled eyes. Full of fear, and regret, and more than anything, love. "Daryl, I love you so much. I just don't know how to do this. I don't know how I'm supposed to be with you knowing that I'm going to have to leave you."

"I don't know either. But I'd rather die a thousand deaths than let you go to yours alone. I'm not leaving. Never again. We'll lock ourselves in this room if it's what you want, but I'm not letting you go yet."

He leaned forward and kissed her with a passion that he had never known before. She wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him desperately. Neither one could fight it. They were destroying each other, but neither one had the strength to leave. They only broke apart when the sound of a loud banging startled them back to reality.

Rick was at the door to the room, knocking frantically and yelling. "Daryl! Carol! Open the door now!"

Carol looked at him with shame in her eyes. "Daryl, I can't see them right now. I'm so ashamed of myself. I must have scared them to death. They know, don't they?"

He nodded. "I had to tell them. Rick wouldn't let me see you until I told him what was going on. But you ain't got any reason to be ashamed of yourself. They'll understand. They were just worried about you." He could see the tears welling up behind her eyes again, threatening to break free. "Hey, don't do that. Don't you start cryin' again. I'll tell him that you're fine now. If you ain't ready to see anyone, then you don't have to. I'll take care of this, just please do something for me. Lay here and wait for me. I'll be right back and we're going to finish this. We're going to figure this out together."

The banging on the door grew louder as he guided her back onto the pillows and pulled the blanket up over her painfully thin frame. She looked so weak, so tired. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Sleep if you need to, but I'm gonna be right here when you open your eyes. I love you."

Her eyes were already starting to close and she whispered as he reluctantly left her side. "I love you too."

Daryl opened the door to reveal Rick, and to his surprise, Eric. He quickly stepped out and pulled the door shut quietly behind him. He could see that Rick was about to say something, but he spoke first. "She's back, for now. But she's terrified. She doesn't want to see anyone. I need more time with her."

Rick could see that Daryl was an emotional wreck, it was obvious that he had been crying and he was struggling to even look at him, his hand still on the knob of the door, ready to get back to her. But Rick couldn't let him leave yet. Not without hearing what he had to say. "Daryl, you need to let go of the door. I have to tell you something and I need you to pay attention. It's about Carol."

Daryl looked at Rick and saw the concern in his eyes. He slipped his hand off of the knob, folding his arms across his chest as he slumped against the door frame and waited to hear what Rick had to say.

"Daryl, I told Eric everything you told me about what's been happening with Carol. I'm sorry, I know I should have asked you first since he's pretty much a stranger to you, but I couldn't just wait back there and do nothing. I thought maybe there was something he could do to help her. He told me something. I don't know what's been happening with her, but I can tell you now that it's not cancer. It's not possible. But you need to let Eric see her. She needs to be checked out, because something is wrong with her, it's just not what she thinks."

Daryl was completely alert now, looking back and forth between the two men, not really knowing what to make of Rick's statement. "What do you mean she doesn't have cancer? How the hell can you say that? You haven't seen her Rick. I have. All you've seen is the bruises. She has headaches so intense that it took me almost an hour to get her to even open her eyes because the pain was so bad. And that was after I gave her a strong ass painkiller. She was burning up and told me that every time she gets a headache, she gets a fever too. She's weak and she's so thin that she's feels like she could snap in half. She knows the symptoms Rick, I told you that. She went through this all before. So you need to tell me right now what the fuck makes you so sure that she's wrong." he said, trying with all his might to keep the volume of his voice low so he wouldn't wake her up.

Rick looked at Eric and spoke. "I think you need to tell him what you told me." He looked back at Daryl who was clenching his fists at his sides, unable to channel his emotions any other way. "Daryl, please listen to him. He knows what he's talking about."

Eric stepped forward and took a deep breath as he began to explain. "Rick mentioned to you all that I was an emergency room doctor. But my wife, Carrie, she was an oncologist at the same hospital where I worked. We didn't talk much about work, we were usually both so tired by the time we came home that we were lucky if we even had time to eat supper together before we had to go to sleep or go back in for another shift. But one day, about a week before the outbreak started, she came home and told me something that she couldn't even seem to believe. Her patients were getting better. All of them, their symptoms were vanishing. It was like some kind of mass miracle. She didn't know what to make of it. She had run new scans on all of her patients and tumors were shrinking, cell counts were evening out. She thought she was going crazy. She spoke with the other doctors in her department and sure enough, they all had the same story. They called the CDC and it was the same thing, it was all over the country, all over the world. Something was happening and even the CDC couldn't explain it. The doctors and the patients were all told to keep quiet, the CDC didn't want to start some kind of mass hysteria. They needed more time to figure out what was going on. Five days later the dead started to rise, and it became clear to us that the two things had to be connected. They just had to be. But there was no time to find proof. Our town was overrun in a matter of hours and we had no choice but to abandon her research and run. We've been running ever since. I told you that I lost her, she would be able to tell you more than I can. But she told me enough. I don't know how, but whatever it is that has done this to us, whatever virus, or bacteria, or parasite has infected us has done something that science has been trying to do for years. It's cured cancer."

Daryl's back slid down the door, landing on his ass as his legs gave out under the weight of this revelation. He had no reason to trust this man, he didn't know him. But he trusted Rick, and if he believed him then Daryl knew that it was the truth. She didn't have cancer. There was no chance that it would ever come back. Relief flooded his body as the thought repeated over and over again in his brain. But his relief was short lived. Her leukemia may not have returned, but it didn't change the facts. Something was very wrong with her, something that had caused her enough pain for her to assume the worst. He pulled himself from the torment in his mind and looked up at the two men standing before him, waiting for him to say something.

"If she doesn't have cancer, then what's wrong with her? She's so sick. We have to help her. I'm not losing her."

* * *

**Whew! There it is folks. My big twist. I don't know if anyone saw that coming, but it just kind of came to me and diverted me away from the path I was originally on. Please review and let me know what you think. I need the input. Updates soon. Thanks for reading. xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo**


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note: I believe that there was a problem with FFnet's alert emails yesterday and I just wanted to let everyone know that if you haven't yet read chapter 10, please do as this chapter will make no damn sense if you haven't. If you have read it, read on.**

**Also, big thanks to everyone who has been following this story. You are all awesome!**

* * *

Rick extended his hand and pulled him to his feet. Daryl's mind was swimming with possibilities. What could possibly be wrong with her? What if it was something easy to fix? What if it was something just as bad as cancer? What if this didn't matter at all, if no matter what she had there was no hope of fixing it? How was he going to explain this to her? He could see that Rick was starting to reach for the door knob and he quickly stepped in front of it. "Rick, we can't just go in there and tell her that she doesn't have cancer. What if it doesn't change anything? You saw her. She ain't real stable right now and I'm not about to go in there and give her hope if there ain't none. I ain't watching her shut herself down like that again. You don't wanna know what it took to break her out of that."

Rick reached out and put his hand on Daryl's arm. "Daryl, we don't know that there isn't any hope until we find out what's really wrong with her. But to do that, you are going to have to let us in that room. I promise we won't say a single word about it not being cancer. We'll just ask her if Eric can take a look at her, maybe find a way to help with her pain. I don't want to see her like that again either. I've never seen her look so empty, not even with Sophia."

Eric spoke up. "Who's Sophia? I didn't meet her yet, did I?"

Daryl could feel his chest tighten at the mention of the little girl. "Sophia was Carol's daughter. We lost her , she got chased off by some biters. We spent weeks looking for her, but she'd been bit. Carol didn't take it very well. She kind of shut down for a while afterwards, but she snapped out of it pretty quick. She was worried about me actually. That's the kind of woman she is. She never thinks of herself first, she's been running herself ragged tryin' to take care of everyone, even after she got sick. She hasn't even been eating, not much anyway. She's always pushing her food onto someone else's plate, sayin they need it more than she does." Daryl could see the wheels turning in Eric's head as he absorbed this information.

"I'm sorry to hear about your daughter." he said after a moment, and Daryl stopped to correct him.

"Sophia wasn't my daughter. Carol was married before all this shit happened. To a real piece of shit that used to beat her black and blue. He got bit a long time back. Son of a bitch deserved it too. She's told me some things about him that made my skin crawl."

"Daryl, thank you for telling me that. Just from what you've told me, I'm starting to get a few suspicions about her condition. But I really need to examine her and ask her for some more details. Can we please go in and see her now?"

Daryl knew that there was no other way to do this. He slowly nodded and reached for the door, entering to find Carol curled up under the blanket, snoring softly. He motioned to the men behind him, telling them to go stand by the desk until he woke her up. He didn't want to startle her. They obliged and moved to the other side of the room as he kneeled down next to her and reached out to gently stroke her cheek. "Carol, wake up. Come on baby, open your eyes."

Her eyes flickered open at the sound of his voice. "I knew you'd come back." she said softly, gazing up at him sleepily. "Come lay down with me please, I just want to sleep in your arms."

He wanted nothing more than to do as she asked, send the men from the room and curl up with her, holding her close while they both slept away the exhaustion this day had brought. But he couldn't do that. He needed to do this now. "Soon, but first I need you to do something for me. Can you do that?" he asked gently.

She nodded, still half asleep and not realizing that they weren't alone in the room.

"Carol, I brought Rick with me. He was worried about you and he wanted to check on you. You know the guy we found by the pond. Turns out he's a friend of Rick's from his hometown. He's here too."

Carol's eyes went wide. She slowly sat herself up in the bed and turned her gaze on Rick and Eric. "Rick, I'm sorry. Daryl told me that you know everything. I should have told you, but I didn't want to worry anyone. And then I go and lose it and worry everyone anyway. I'm sorry." she said, her voice already starting to crack again. Rick quickly moved to her side before she could break down and start crying again. He reached out and took her hand.

"Carol, don't you dare apologize to me. You don't have anything to be sorry for. If anything I should be apologizing to you. I'm sorry that none of us realized what was going on with you. We should have seen it." he said as he pulled her in for a hug.

When he released her, Daryl could see that she had calmed down a bit and he figured it was now or never. He nodded to Eric, signaling him to make his move. He stepped forward and Carol looked at him, a bit of confusion on her face, wondering why this stranger was here at a time like this. Eric extended his hand to her and she reluctantly took it, shaking it briefly before pulling away.

"Ma'am, I just wanted to thank you. If you hadn't come across my path out in the woods, I'd probably still be out there fighting for my life. You took pity on me and brought me back here to your leader, who was one of my best friends before the world went to hell. He told me a little bit about your condition and as a doctor and someone who owes you a huge debt, I would like to see if I can help you." he said.

She didn't know what to say. She was touched that he had come down here just to thank her, but she didn't know what it was that he thought he could do to help her. "I'm glad that it worked out for you, that you found Rick and all, but I don't think you understand. I have cancer, there's no more hospitals, no more radiation or chemo. I appreciate your offer, but it's not necessary. You don't owe me anything. I only did what I thought was right."

Daryl knew that she would shoot him down, and he didn't want to push her, but he had to. "Carol, please let him check you out. He just wants to help, maybe find a way to help with your pain. Please, do it for me."

She looked at him for a moment, seeing the desperation in his eyes. She didn't see the point, but if it made him feel better she would do it. She sighed and spoke. "Okay. I guess it's alright."

Eric smiled slightly as he slipped off his backpack and pulled out a small medical bag. "Thank you Carol. First thing I'm going to need to do is examine you. I just need to check a few things, maybe take a look at that cut on your head. I'm still really sorry about that by the way. Can't see all that well without my glasses. Good thing I swing like a girl, huh?"

Daryl smiled as he saw that Carol was relaxing a bit. This guy didn't seem too bad, had a good bedside manner anyway. He sat himself on the edge of the bed and grabbed Carol's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as Eric continued.

"Rick, I'm gonna ask you to step outside while I examine her. Daryl, you can stay if you like."

Daryl squeezed Carol's hand tighter. "I'm staying right here."

Carol gently pulled her hand from his and looked at him. "Daryl, it's okay. I'll be fine, just go wait with Rick." She looked up to see that Rick had already stepped out in the hallway. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "You two need to talk." she said before giving him a small kiss on the cheek.

He didn't want to leave her, but he didn't want to stay if it wasn't what she wanted. "I'm not going far." he said as he walked over to the door. She smiled at him and the sight was enough to make his heart almost melt. "I know you aren't."

He returned her smile before stepping outside of the room and closing the door. Rick was standing there, visibly uncomfortable now that it was just the two of them. There was still tension between them and Daryl knew that Carol was right. They had to talk it out. He took a step forward and spoke. "Rick, never got to tell you that I ain't mad at you for what you said. I understand why you might have thought that. I ain't exactly known for being a real gentle guy. I get it, why you said it. It ain't true and that's what matters. No hard feelings." he said, reaching out and patting his friend on the arm.

Rick looked up and saw that Daryl was being sincere. But just because he had forgiven him, it didn't make what he had said any less horrible. "I never should have said it man. Don't even know why I thought it. I judged you pretty quick when we first met, and even though you've proven time and time again that I was wrong about you, I guess some of those judgments stuck with me. I'm sorry man. I can't say that enough. I just… I saw her like that, and I thought about that asshole she was married to and about how we almost lost her once and I just kind of lost it. I can't lose any more people. It's all I think about, keeping everyone safe. I can understand why Carol shut herself down like she did. I've been pretty close to it myself a few times." he admitted.

Daryl watched the way Rick looked back down on the floor and he didn't know why but he felt like he needed to admit something of his own. "I understand man. That's how I feel when I think about losing her. Like I'm gonna lose it. I almost did. I couldn't get Carol to come around, she was scaring the shit out of me. I knew I had to shock her out of it. I told her that if she wanted to die, then I was dying too. Had my finger on the trigger and everything. She snapped back into reality as soon as she heard the safety click. But for a second, I wasn't sure if I was just threatening to do it or if I really meant it. I just… I don't know how I'd take it without her here."

Rick looked up, shocked at his confession. The suicide threat was bad enough, but the way he talked about Carol. The way he had been acting with her, that shocked Rick more than anything. "You really love that woman, don't you?"

Daryl nodded, kind of embarrassed that he had just admitted all that, but somehow feeling better for having shared it with someone else. "I've cared about Carol since I watched her take a pickax to her asshole of a husband. Not real romantic, but I don't know. She just changed so much in that moment, she stopped being so scared. I couldn't tell her, not back then, I didn't really think she'd want some filthy redneck like me. But I couldn't really leave her either. She's the reason I stayed with the group. I could've left but her and Sophia, they didn't have anyone else there to protect them. And then everything that happened at the CDC, losing Sophia, all of the crazy shit we've been through. I didn't even know what was happening, but I fell in love with her. I still couldn't tell her, didn't want to mess things up between us. But when she told me she was sick, I couldn't take it. I had to tell her how I felt while I had a chance. I just hope that it ain't too late."

"I hope so too. I don't think any of us can face losing her. I don't think we've realized it, but she's the one who holds us all together. All of the little things that she does, we take them for granted, but she'd the one who makes this place a home. We all need her."

Daryl nodded in agreement. They both felt like a weight had been lifted from them after their talk. They stood there quietly after that, an unspoken understanding between them as they waited for Eric to emerge from the room and tell them whether or not she was going to be okay.

* * *

**Oooh, still not gonna tell you yet. Gonna let you wonder just a little bit longer. Thanks to all for reading. Update tomorrow. Please review! xoxo Bekah xoxo**


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors Note: I got a review that mentioned Mr. Coleman from Woodbury and how he died from cancer. I honestly had forgotten about him and would like to thank the person who reminded me, as well as everyone else who reviewed. I suppose that for the purpose of this story, that scene didn't happen. Just wanted to clear that up, just in case anyone was wondering if she really had cancer or not. With that out of the way. read on.**

* * *

The seconds ticked by at an agonizingly slow pace. Over an hour had passed and Daryl was going insane, pacing back and forth in front of the door to the room where Carol was being examined. Rick had stopped telling him to calm down a while ago, knowing that he wouldn't be able to relax until he was back at her side. He had finally had enough waiting and was just about to reach for the door knob when it swung open before him. Eric stepped out, his expression unreadable as he pulled the door quietly shut behind him. Daryl could feel his heart rise up in his throat, anxiety coursing through his veins as he waited for Eric to say something.

"She's sleeping. Poor thing is exhausted. I checked her out as thoroughly as I could and I can tell you now, without a shadow of a doubt, that she does not have cancer. Even if I believed that it was a possibility, after all this time, it would have killed her. I asked her a lot of questions, about her illness before, about her symptoms now, when they first appeared, the severity, the frequency. She was reluctant to really tell me at first, but she opened up when I reminded her that you wanted her to." he said, shooting Daryl a cautious look when he said the last part. "I hope that was okay. I felt kind of sneaky saying it, but I had to get her talking."

Daryl nodded. "It's fine. Not many ways to get through to her right now. At least it worked. You gotta get to the point though. What's wrong with her?"

Eric nodded and continued his explanation. "For one thing, she is dangerously anemic and vitamin deficient. I could tell that just by looking at her, the color of her skin and all of those bruises. She told me that the bruises are what first made her believe that her cancer had returned. Everything else, all her other symptoms just stemmed from that belief, while further enforcing it. She told me that she stopped eating because she didn't want to waste food on herself when she was just going to die anyway. That caused her to become extremely malnourished, causing her weight loss, body aches, and combined with the anemia, her weakness. The only thing that I couldn't figure out was the headaches and the fever, it's not very common that those two things are combined like they are for her. I pressed her a little bit, asked her about her medical history, aside from her cancer, and when she told me this, it finally made sense. She told me that she used to get stress headaches, not bad ones, but migraines nonetheless. They were never much of a problem for her, she would just pop some Excedrin and they would go away. But, with all of the stress that she's been under, the death of her daughter, trying to survive in this world, keeping her illness a secret, worrying about dying, not to mention the physical stress that she's been putting her body through; Those headaches came back with a vengeance and in rare cases, when a migraine is severe enough, it can cause a moderately high fever. And as for her mental state, just imagine all of the thoughts running through her mind and top it all off with the fact that she now has a mild concussion. She is very sick and if these things had continued untreated for much longer, she could have been in real danger of permanent damage, or even death. It may take some time to bring her back from this, but it can be done. She needs rest, relaxation, iron and vitamin supplements, and most of all she needs to start eating again. But as long as she does these things, she will be just fine."

Daryl could feel Rick's arm reach out to steady him as he stumbled back, his mind completely occupied by everything he had just heard. He could feel the tears begin to well up behind his eyes and at this moment, he almost didn't care who saw him cry. She was going to be okay. She just needed to take better care of herself and all of this would go away. She would get better and she would come back to him, the strong, healthy, fiery woman that he had fallen in love with would return. He couldn't help himself as he reached out and pulled Eric in, hugging him briefly as he thanked him. "I can't… I don't know how to thank you. All I can say is I'm glad Carol didn't let me shoot you for hitting her. You just saved her life."

Eric was clearly uncomfortable with the praise and just smiled as he replied. "It's nothing. I meant what I said. I owed her a huge debt of gratitude. I'm just happy that I could help. For the record though, I'm pretty glad she didn't let you shoot me too. I can't imagine that an arrow to the head would be a real pleasant way to die." he said, jokingly.

Daryl laughed and finally turned to Rick. He could see that his eyes were full of tears as well and he reached out and pulled his friend in for a hug. "She's going to be okay man. She ain't gonna die."

Rick pulled back with a smile on his face, but the sound of a small squeak quickly pushed it away. All three men turned their heads towards the sound and found Carol, standing in the doorway, weak on her feet and with a look of confusion on her face. Daryl froze. He had been so elated to find out that she wasn't going to die, that he had forgotten that she didn't know that yet. He didn't really know how he was going to explain it to her with making her feel worse. He knew that she was going to start blaming herself for shit, it was just the way she was. He pushed the thoughts away as she spoke.

"Daryl, what's going on? I don't understand all this. Why did you have him check me out? Why are you crying? What aren't you telling me?" she asked, panic clearly visible in her eyes. She took a step towards him and stumbled a bit on her feet, causing him to reach out and grab her by the waist, holding her up.

Daryl guided her back to the bed, and she didn't fight him as he set her back under the blanket. She suddenly looked at him with fear in her eyes. "Daryl, please tell me what's going on? Is something else wrong with me? Am I worse than I thought I was?"

Daryl knew that he had to tell her. He could see how anxious she was getting and getting her stressed out wasn't going to help anything. He sat down next to her on the bed and pulled her hands into his own, trying to find the best way to tell her. He finally just decided to be direct. "Carol, you know that I love you and I wouldn't lie to you, right?" he asked, receiving a small nod from her. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Eric told us something tonight and I need for you to believe me when I tell you this. You don't have cancer. I can't really explain it, I'll have to let Eric tell you the details, but cancer doesn't exist anymore. Something about the walker outbreak cured it. I know that sounds like bullshit, but it's not. You are sick and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get you healthy again, but you ain't gonna die. You are gonna be here with us for a long time. Do you understand?"

She looked at him, eyes wide with disbelief and shock. She looked up at Rick and Eric, and they were both nodding, confirming that this was true. Her mind went into overdrive, questions and doubts and emotions flooding her thoughts. She could already feel herself shutting down. This was too much, too sudden.

Daryl could see just by the look in her face that she didn't understand what was happening. He reached up and placed his hand on her cheek. "Carol, don't do that. Not now. You gotta stay with me, okay?"

His voice snapped her back into reality, but she still didn't know what to say, what to ask. It took everything she had just to ask what she did. "How?"

Daryl was relieved to hear her speak, and he looked up at Eric. The doctor started to recount his whole story, the cancer patients, the CDC, the research his wife had done. Carol nodded along with the story, her eyes still mostly confused but containing a small spark of understanding. Eric continued, telling her what was truly wrong with her, making sure to word it so that it didn't sound like she was at fault for any of it. But Daryl could already see that she was going to blame herself. She was quiet, not like before, but she wasn't speaking, not even to ask any questions. Daryl squeezed her hand and she looked at him, giving him a weak smile. Eric finally explained what she needed to do to get better, and again she just nodded, too overwhelmed by everything to really say much more than thank you.

Rick stepped over to her and bent down to give her a tight hug. "It's all going to be fine Carol. I'm going to tell everyone what's going on and we'll go on a run. We'll bring you back everything you need to get better. Just stay here with Daryl and get some rest, okay? I'll get Beth to bring you both something to eat. I'm just so happy you're going to be okay."

She was caught up inside of her own mind, trapped in the whirlwind of everything she had just learned. She gazed at Rick, but there was nothing behind it. Daryl was worried that this was going to happen. He needed to get her talking before she blanked out on him again. Rick and Eric finally made their way from the room, leaving them alone on the bed.

Daryl watched her for a moment, he could see every single emotion that was going through her. "Hey, you okay?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him and he could see that her lip was beginning to quiver, her eyes becoming wet. This was a good sign, she wasn't shutting down, she was going to let it out. He waited for her tears to come, knowing that he would pull her close and hold her until they had stopped. But they never came. Instead she blinked them back, and suddenly her blank expression was replaced by one of anger. She pulled her hand from his and ran it through her hair. She looked like she was ready to explode. When she finally spoke, it was loud enough that it actually caused Daryl to jump.

"No Daryl, I'm not okay! I'm furious. What the hell is wrong with me? All of this, all this time I've spent thinking I was going to die, all the time I spent coming to terms with it. I never had cancer. I'll never have it again. But I let myself think the worst and ended up making myself sick for real. I scared the group, I scared you, I…" her voice trailed off as her anger faded away and was replaced by one of disgust. "I was going to kill myself. Twice. I was such a coward that I was going to end it all. And then you, I made you threaten to do the same thing."

She quickly slipped out of the bed, walking over to stand near the desk. He could see how tormented she was and he quickly moved to stand before her. He reached for her, but she jerked away, her body shaking. "Daryl, don't touch me, please. Not now. I don't deserve it. After everything I've put you through, I can't even stand to look at you. It hurts too much. Just go away, please? Just leave."

Her words held such venom, that he could feel his own emotions begin to bubble to the surface. He had tried to be calm, tried to be gentle, but it was clear to him that none of that was going to help her. She wasn't going to dismiss him like that. Not after everything that had happened between them. His own voice rose as he finally responded to her. "I'm not going anywhere, you understand me! You ain't pushing me away. You don't want to look at me, that's just fine. But you are gonna fucking listen! You got sick, and then you got scared and you went a little crazy. So fucking what? Take a look around you, the whole fucking world has gone insane. Rick sees dead people, Michonne talks to them, hell, I thought I saw Merle just last week out in the woods ripping apart a raccoon. We all lose it sometimes. No one would blame you for a second for what you did. I didn't blame you when I found you in that closet. I'm not blaming you now and you ain't gonna blame yourself either. You're so much stronger than this and you don't even know it. You ain't gonna die. You and me ain't done living yet, we ain't done fighting. Now snap the fuck out of this shit and get your skinny ass over here. You're stuck with me, and if you don't fucking mind, I'd like to hold my woman for a few minutes and just be happy that she isn't gonna leave me."

Carol was speechless. He hadn't yelled at her like that in so long, not since they had lost Sophia. But everything he had said, he was right. She knew that deep down. She finally looked at him and when she saw the way his chest was heaving, the love in his eyes, she couldn't hold herself back anymore. She reached for him and he roughly pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her as she did the same. They stood that way in silence for a long time, her head on his chest and his lips pressed against the top of her head. It was over, and the relief that they both felt was enough to make them weak.

Daryl could feel her grip on his waist loosening up and he finally pulled back from back from her, meeting her gaze and seeing just how exhausted she really looked. She had dark circles under her eyes and even now it seemed like she was struggling to stand. He had ignored it before, thinking that there was not much he could do to help. But now he knew better, and being the kind of man that he was, he wasn't about to stand here and take it. He quickly scooped her up and carried her back to the bed, setting her down in the middle of it and pulling the blanket back up over her. She opened her mouth to say something, but he spoke before she had the chance. "Don't say nothing. You are gonna stay in that spot as long as it takes for you to get better. Beth is bringing us food and you're gonna eat every bite of it, I'll make you eat mine too if I think you still look hungry. You are gonna take the medicine that they bring you and you are gonna sleep. You are gonna sleep as much as you can until I think that you've had enough. And then you're gonna sleep some more." he commanded with determination in his voice. He saw a small smile form on her lips and he couldn't help himself. He leaned down and kissed her with such a passion that actually made her whimper against his lips. He pulled back, with a satisfied smile on his face. Her eyes were locked on his and she was breathing heavily as he added. "And If you do everything I tell you to, you might get some more of that."

She smiled up at him, raising her hands in mock defeat. "I'm not arguing. I'll do whatever you think I need to do to get better. I was just going to thank you. For everything."

Daryl sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned back in, kissing her, more gently than before. When he broke away, he rested his forehead against hers. "Don't be thanking me for nothing. I told you before, you and me, we're a team. I love you. Best thing to come out of all this shit. I finally got the balls to tell you that."

She kissed him again as his words circled around her brain. "I love you too." She felt the pillow under her head as he guided her back and told her to close her eyes. She obeyed.

"Now go to sleep. I think we've done more than enough talking for one day. I'll wake you up when Beth gets here with your food, okay?" he said as he watched her shut her eyes. She nodded slightly and smiled.

"Yes, sir." she murmered as she drifted off. She was out like a light in less than a minute.

Daryl smiled at her little joke, watching her as she slept. She looked peaceful, happy even. She was thin and pale, but she was still beautiful. And she was his. They had been given another chance and he wasn't going to fuck it up. He could feel his own exhaustion start to pull him under and he struggled to keep his eyes open. He wasn't ready to sleep yet, he wanted to make this moment last just a little longer. The moment when he realized that he was going to spend the rest of his life with this woman, and if god was willing, that life would be a long one.

* * *

**The mystery has been solved. I hope that I did this justice. I did a lot of research and with all of the problems she has, her symptoms truly could be mistaken for cancer. Please let me know what you think. Reviews keep me going. Update soon. only one or two more chapters left, I think. Thanks for reading! xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Big thanks to everyone who has been following this story. Even bigger thanks to those who have reviewed. Your kind words make may day. You are all awesome. Read on!**

* * *

Beth couldn't contain her laugh when she stepped into the room and saw Daryl and Carol in bed, both fast asleep and snoring, softly in her case, not so softly in his. Carol was lying on her back against the pillows, arms splayed out at her sides, her bare feet exposed as she had kicked them out from under the blankets. Daryl hadn't managed to stay awake long enough to even lie beside her, he was passed out across the foot of the bed, one arm thrown above his head, and the other stretched towards Carol, his hand on hers but not quite holding it. His legs were dangling over the side and one of Carol's feet had come to rest on his stomach. She couldn't help it, she laughed so hard that she nearly dropped the heavy tray of food she had carried up from the kitchen. The sound must have alarmed Daryl, he shot straight up, his eyes wide as she came into focus. His hair was sticking up at odd angles and it only made her laugh harder.

Daryl wasn't real good with getting woken up abruptly. He had once punched Merle in the nose for waking him from a deep sleep in the middle of the night just to ask for a cigarette. He narrowed his eyes at the blond girl. "What's so damn funny, kid?" he snapped.

Beth just brushed off his tone and stepped further into the room. She was used to him by now, they all were. "I'm not a kid, I'm going to be nineteen in two weeks. I didn't mean to laugh like that. Just the way you and Carol looked. It was cute. Also, your hair is all over the place." she said cheerfully as she placed the loaded tray on the desk.

Daryl softened a bit when he heard her explanation. She was a sweet kid and he couldn't ever really get mad at her. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to tame it before standing up and walking over to her. He could see that when she had been asked to bring them something to eat, she hadn't taken that lightly. She seemed to have put a little bit of everything they had on the tray, and for a second Daryl wanted to reach out and hug her. But she was looking at Carol, who was still sound asleep, with a nervous expression on her face.

"Daddy told me what was going on. How Carol thought she had cancer. I thought something was off with her lately, but I didn't say anything. I know she doesn't like people fussing over her. Is she really going to be okay?"

Daryl reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close for a second before releasing her. "As long as you keep feeding her like this, she's gonna be back in that kitchen helping you in no time."

She looked up at him and smiled, relief filling her blue eyes. "I'm so glad. I don't think I could stand to lose her. She's kind of been like a mama to me since everything happened. You know, teaching me how to do things and giving me advice. I could really use some right now, actually." she said, looking at him expectantly.

Daryl quickly looked down at his feet. "Um, yeah, I think you're gonna have to wait for her to wake up for that. I don't really think I'd have much to say on anything you might have to ask me, unless you wanna know about huntin' or cursin', in which case ask away."

She giggled. "Nope, I think I'm good on those two things. I'll leave the hunting up to you and if daddy heard me swearing like you he'd probably kick your butt with his good leg. My problem is more of a "girl problem". Its okay, I'll let you two be for now. I'll come back later to talk to her, if that's okay?"

"I'm not really sure if she's up to seeing anyone yet, but if she is I'll let everyone know. I'll bring all the dishes back down when she's done. I'll make sure to tell her you were asking about her though, it'll make her feel better."

Beth nodded in acknowledgement and shot Carol one last relieved look before making her way back out of the room. Daryl glanced at the window and saw a faint glow behind the heavy curtains. He must have gotten a few hours of sleep and he already felt better. Lighter. It was a new day.

Carol started to stir when he pulled back the curtain, flooding the room with the early morning light. She stretched out under the cover and yawned, her gaze falling upon him as he stood there, looking out the window with a thoughtful smile on his face. "Morning." she called out, pulling him from his thoughts and causing his smile to grow wider. He came to sit next to her on the bed, leaning down and kissing her softly.

"Morning yourself. How you feeling?"

She shrugged her shoulders and answered him honestly. "I feel a million times better, yet I still feel like shit, if that makes any sense."

Daryl smiled. "Course you feel like shit, you still need to get better. Thing is, now we know how to get you there."

She sat herself up in the bed as he walked over and retrieved the tray that Beth had brought for her. He placed it down on the bed in front of her, and smiled when she looked down at the huge amount of food and looked up at him with shock on her face. "I know that I need to eat, but I think if I eat even half of this, I'm going to explode."

He laughed as he sat back down on the bed. "Don't worry, it ain't all for you. I'm so hungry, I could eat at least half of the shit on that tray. But you are gonna eat as much as you can. Gotta get your strength back up. Now stop bitchin and pick up a fork. I don't wanna hear another word outta you until you're full." He picked up his own fork and didn't hesitate, grabbing a bowl of some kind of stew and digging in. He stopped when he saw that she wasn't doing the same, just sitting there, watching him with a small smile on her lips and a strange look in her eyes.

He chewed the bite in his mouth, swallowing it before speaking. "Whatcha lookin at?"

She quickly looked back down at the tray. "Nothing, it's just, I kind of like you like this. Bossy and demanding. It's kind of sexy, is all."

He nearly choked on the bite of food he had just put in his mouth. "Um, I ain't never been called sexy before. Kinda weird. If you like me being bossy though, I'll let you call it whatever you want. You start eating and maybe I'll boss you around some more later." he said teasingly.

It worked though, she picked up her fork and slowly started picking at a bowl of fruit. She chewed each bite carefully, stopping now and then to glance up at him, sometimes smiling, sometimes just watching him thoughtfully. He finally put his fork down, so stuffed that he didn't want to move. He looked down at the tray and saw that in addition to what he had eaten, she had managed to eat the bowl of fruit and most of a bowl of thick oatmeal. He wanted to tell her to eat more, but he realized that after how long she had been going without, eating what she had was a huge effort on her part. He cleaned up the dishes and set everything back down on the desk. When he turned back around, she was still watching him, smiling as he walked back over to her. He sat back down. "So, Beth was in here before, asking about you. Wanted to know if she could come by later to see you. Said she needed to ask you something. You feelin' up to seeing anyone yet."

She looked down for a moment before she responded. "We'll go back down later. As long as everyone knows that I'm alright, I think I'd just like to be alone a little while longer." She could see a look of disappointment flash across his face and she quickly corrected her statement. "I didn't mean alone, I meant alone with you. If that's okay? I know you probably have more important things to do."

He leaned forward and kissed her before she could say anymore. "You really don't get it, do you? Ain't nothing more important to me than you right now. You want me here, you got me."

She smiled sweetly, touched by his words. "Okay, I want you here then. So, since you're stuck with me for a while, what do you wanna do?"

A hundred different possibilities ran through his head, from leaning in and kissing her again, to taking her right here and now, not stopping until he had her screaming his name. But he pushed those thoughts aside, he could still see the bruises on her arms and though he had forgiven himself for putting them there, we wasn't real eager to give her anymore. He could wait until she was really feeling better before he even thought about touching her that way. He thought for a moment, and finally answered. "Um, I could take you down to the showers. I think we could both use one."

She looked down at herself, and looked back up at him, pretending to be offended. "Do I look that bad?"

He smiled when he realized she was joking. "No, you look great just like always, but I'm pretty sure I stink and I've been wearing these clothes for four days."

She scanned him up and down. "I hadn't noticed, all your clothes look the same. Ripped up jeans and sleeveless shirts. Do you even have any shirts with sleeves?" she said teasingly.

This was his Carol, teasing him with that silly sparkle in her eye. He teased her right back. "I don't know, I gotta check. I never heard you complain before, you seem to be real fond of lookin' at my arms. I noticed that shit a long time ago."

She blushed, slightly embarrassed. "Maybe I was looking. I just, I was always wondering how it would feel to be wrapped up in them. Didn't realize I was staring or anything."

He felt the heat rise in his own cheeks as he made his own confession. "I can't say anything. I used to watch your ass every time you'd leave a room."

Carol looked at him thoughtfully. "Huh, good to know. I'll have to remember that."

He suddenly stood up as that look came into her eyes, the one that made him almost instantly hard. He leaned down and kissed her softly, not wanting her to feel like he was rejecting her or anything. "Okay, I'm gonna run those dishes back down to Beth and I'll stop on the way back and grab us some clean clothes. You just sit there and wait, okay."

She nodded, a smile on her face as she watched him nervously grab the tray and look at her one last time as he left the room.

He made his way back down to the cell block, dropping the tray off with Beth. The rest of group was absent. Beth told him that Maggie and Glenn were out in the tower, Carl and Hershel were outside playing with Judith, and that Rick, Michonne, and Eric had made a run into a nearby town, searching for extra food and all of the supplements that they needed for Carol. He thanked her again for the food and told her that Carol would probably be up to coming down and seeing everyone later. She smiled and returned to her work and he quickly made his way back up to his perch. He dug through his bag, grabbing the first things he found. When he entered her cell, it was a different story. He carefully looked through her things, trying to find something that looked comfortable. He settled on a dark red dress, a knee length strappy thing that was as soft as a worn out tee shirt. He had never seen her wear it before, probably because she had been so worried about hiding her body. But it was too damn hot already, and she didn't have any reason to keep hiding herself away under long sleeves and jeans. He silently admitted to himself that he also just wanted to see her wearing something pretty. He folded the dress neatly and grabbed a pair of black flip flops and the small bag that contained her few personal items. He was just about to leave when he realized he hadn't grabbed her any underwear. He looked around until he found another small bag of her clothes. He blushed as red as her dress when he saw that the bag was full of small, lacy things, in all different colors and styles. He could picture her in each one as he pulled it from the bag and it just made his hard on return with a vengeance. He shook the thoughts away as he grabbed the first red things he saw and shoved the rest back in the bag. "Knock it off Dixon, she ain't ready for that yet. You're just gonna take a shower. That's all. There'll be plenty of time for that later. Just control yourself, you asshole." he thought to himself as he collected all of her things and made his way out of the cell. He walked slowly back to the office where she was waiting for him, trying to get it together. But when he finally reached the room, he opened the door, and when he saw her, he just couldn't help himself. There was only one thought in his mind and he knew that he couldn't hesitate. He had to do this now.

* * *

**So, another little cliffhanger for you all. I'm mean, I know. Hope you enjoyed that chapter, it was nice to be able to write something a bit lighter after all the drama of the last few chapters. I'm not really sure yet if there will be one or two more chapters to this. I keep trying to wind it down and keep finding more words coming out. But with any luck, I should have a chapter out to you all by tomorrow. Thanks for reading and pretty, pretty please, review! I really love hearing what you think. I'm a great big ball of insecurity and every little bit of input helps.**

**xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Not a super long chapter, but I think it's a pretty good one. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me this far. You all deserve a Daryl of your very own for being so awesome. Read on!**

* * *

She was standing by the window, the morning sun illuminating her as she gazed up at the sky, mouthing something he couldn't hear. When she heard him enter, she quickly said amen and turned to face him, smiling when she saw the bundle of clothes in his arms. She had looked beautiful before, but with the sun at her back she almost had a glow about her, a faint halo shining above her short curls. His breath caught in his throat for a second. "It ain't no wonder she looks like an angel, she is one. Mine." He stepped forward, dropping his bundle on the desk and making his way over to where she stood. He reached out and placed his hands gently on her hips, pulling her in and kissing her softly. When he pulled away, she was smiling even brighter than before. "I love you woman, you know that."

She stretched up and kissed him again, letting her lips linger on his for a moment before breaking away. "I know. It's nice to hear you say it, though. I love you too."

"So, when I walked in, it looked like you were praying. What for?" he asked, taking his hands from her waist as she started to move to make the bed.

"I wasn't praying for anything, just saying thank you is all. I got a second chance at life, and I'd like to think that god had some role in that. Just wanted to tell him how grateful I was. "

She was moving around the room now, smoothing down the sheets on the bed and then making her way over to the desk, checking out what he had brought her. Daryl watched as she smiled with approval when she saw the red dress, and the way her cheeks colored when she saw the small red bra and panties he had chosen to go with it. He couldn't help but laugh when she pulled the shirt he had grabbed for himself from the pile, and held it up with a look of shock on her face.

"So you do own a shirt with sleeves, who knew? I don't think I've ever even seen this before." she said, almost laughing.

He just shrugged, but the little flash of disappointment that must have crossed his face didn't go unnoticed by her. It was already sweltering hot and it couldn't be any later than 8am. And while the shirt in her hands, a dark blue cotton work shirt, was nice, it had long sleeves, and she knew that he'd be sweating like a pig if he wore it. She looked down at the desk and saw a pair of sharp scissors sitting in a cup full of pencils. She quickly picked them up, and snipped a small hole in the fabric of each sleeve. She tore them off one at a time and dropped them in the wastepaper basket. When she looked back up at him, he was actually grinning, not a normal Daryl smirk or a sweet shy smile, but a teeth and all, shit eating grin. She couldn't take her eyes off of him as she folded the shirt back up and returned it to their pile of clothes, giving it a small pat for emphasis. "Sleeves are overrated." It was all she could say.

He watched her as she continued to move around the room, wiping this and straightening that. It was pretty damn clear that she was already getting restless, she wasn't one for sitting still and the prospect of having to keep resting was probably driving her nuts. He needed to distract her, and he knew just how to do it. He had something he'd needed to say to her since yesterday and now seemed like as good a time as any. "Hey Carol, you wanna stop bouncing around for a second. I gotta say something."

She looked at him, stilling her movements and coming to stand in front of him, waiting to hear him speak.

He tried to calm his nerves as he guided her backwards, picking her up and seating her on the top of the desk. "Now or never, Dixon." he thought as he opened his mouth to speak. "I was thinking about something. Do you remember the day I told you Ioved you, when I found you in the closet and you tried to talk me out of it?" he asked, watching a bit of sadness enter her eyes when he mentioned the incident.

She nodded. "It was only a few days ago, but it seems like longer than that. That was definitely not my finest moment."

He could see the way her expression had changed. "Shit, I wasn't trying to get you upset, I just… I was thinking about how you told me all the things we'd never get to do. You know, have babies, or get married or get old together. But now, we got time we didn't have then. I don't know how long we're gonna be around for, this world might take us out before we ever get the chance to get old. And I ain't real sure about having kids, it don't seem right bringing no babies into this life if we can help it. But I got a second chance when you did, and I wanna do the right thing by you." He took a deep breath and dropped down to one knee, not seeing the look of genuine shock that had crept onto her face. "Carol, I love you and I wanna make sure that everyone knows it. I ain't got a ring, but I'll get you one if you want. I ain't no good at this, but I'm tryin to ask you…Do you wanna get married?"

Carol watched as he finally exhaled, looking like he was going to pass out any moment. She was struck completely speechless. She wasn't sure if she wanted to cry, or laugh, or just jump his bones right there on the floor. She settled on reaching down and running her fingers through his hair, causing him to look up at her with expectation and anxiety in his blue eyes. She suddenly found her voice again. "Daryl, do you mean that? Because we don't have too, I wasn't expecting anything from you when I said it. You don't really seem like the type, and I was married before. It didn't work out so great. I'm just happy being with you."

He looked up at her, a feeling of rejection slowly filling him. But when he saw her eyes, the hopeful spark they held, he knew that she was saying these things for his benefit. He stood up, a new wave of determination pushing away all of his other feelings. "Carol, I didn't ask you because I thought you wanted me to, I asked you because I wanted to. I want everyone to know that this strong, beautiful, feisty, stubborn ass woman is mine. And as for you being married before, I'm not Ed. I'm never going to treat you the way he did, if I even thought for a second that I was capable of any of the things he did to you, I wouldn't be asking you this. But I gotta know. Do you wanna be my wife?"

She couldn't contain the small tears that fell down her cheeks. She was speechless again, and it was all she could do to nod her head. He smiled brighter than she had ever seen before and he picked her up off the desk, kissing her passionately before placing her back on her feet. She still looked shell shocked, and he couldn't help but laugh. "You gonna say anything? You wouldn't shut up before."

She looked up at him, seeing a man that she had never seen before, but had always known was there. He was smiling, there was no fear or doubt behind it, just genuine happiness. "I was just wondering what brought this on, I mean, we love each other, but we've only really been together for, what, four days? I want to marry you, but this just seems kind of fast. Can you even imagine what everyone is going to say when they hear this. Rick is gonna die from shock."

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "I don't think time really matters anymore. I know what I want, you know what you want, and fuck the rest of it. You being sick made me realize that we don't really know how much time we have left. No point in waiting to do things anymore. And I wouldn't worry too much about Rick, me and him had a talk and I think we're over all the bullshit between us."

She pulled back and gazed up at him, looking more alive than she had in weeks. "So, this is really happening then? We're getting married?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it looks that way. I just gotta get you a ring and you gotta make some plans when you're feeling better. But, I'm ready whenever you are."

"I don't really need some silly wedding. It's not like its legal now anyway. I'd just be happy with us saying some vows to each other and having Rick say man and wife. And I really don't need a ring. Something like that is certainly not worth making a run for. Any run is a risk, and you are not risking yourself for me." she said sincerely.

He shrugged it off. "We don't have to have some big wedding if you don't want. I'm happy with whatever you wanna do. But you're getting a ring. I don't think that an abandoned jewelry store is going to be a big gathering place for biters. I gotta find one first, but one way or another, you're getting a ring on that finger. Don't bother arguing, it aint gonna work."

She looked at him, a spark of defiance entering her blue eyes. She stepped out of his arms and made her way around the desk, pulling open drawers until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed something, and turned her back to him. He watched her curiously and when she turned back around, he could see something in her hand. She walked back over to him and handed him something that almost made him start cracking up. She had unfolded a large silver paper clip and wrapped it around her finger, twisting the ends together until it formed a crude circle. She looked pretty pleased with herself as she watched the look of amusement on his face. "There you go Mr. Bossy, a perfectly good ring. Now are you going to put it on me or am I going to have to do it myself."

He sighed. He slipped the makeshift ring on her finger and watched as she looked down t it, admiring her handiwork. "Nicest piece of jewelry I've ever had." she said with certainty.

"That's bullshit and we both know it. But you win, for now. Anyway, I thought you said you like it when I was bossy. Called me sexy and all that shit?"

She leaned forward and kissed him hard, tugging gently on his lip with her teeth when she finally broke away, leaving him breathless and staring at her with blatant lust in his eyes. "I do think you're sexy when you're bossy. It doesn't mean I don't like fighting back. Makes it more fun."

He watched the sly smile that had formed on her lips and all he could think about was ripping her clothes off and bending her over the desk. He was as hard as a rock and it was pretty obvious that she had noticed. She was now looking at him the same way, like she couldn't wait to have him. It took every ounce of strength he had but he managed to control himself. "Carol, we ain't ready for that just yet. I need to know that I ain't gonna bruise the hell out of you when we make love again, and if we start this, I really don't think I can stop. Let's just wait until you're feeling better. At least until you've started taking all the vitamins and iron and shit you need."

She was a bit defeated, but she understood why he felt the way he did. She nodded and smiled, picking up her small pile of clothes from the desk and making her way over to the door. She looked over her shoulder at him and laughed. "Come on then, let's go get that shower. I need to cool off and I think you do too, judging by that bulge in your jeans."

He stood there, watching as she stepped from the room and into the hallway, waiting patiently for him to follow. All he could do was shake his head as he pictured her standing under the cold spray of the shower, naked and dripping wet. He couldn't help the thought that entered his brain next. "That woman is fucking amazing, but I think she's trying to kill me. Oh well, I'd die with a smile on my face." He grabbed his own stuff and gave in, following her down the hallway towards the showers, watching her ass every step of the way, without any of the shame he usually felt when he caught himself doing it. She was going to marry him, she was his and if he wanted to eye fuck her in front of the whole group, he was going to. He was a new man, and he wasn't going to waste anymore of his life regretting what he wanted or did. He was just Daryl Dixon, and if she liked him the way he was, then he guessed he did too.

* * *

**Ugh, I think I might need a cold shower now too, just from the sexual tension. Fear not, my loyal Caryl shippers. Sexy times may await in the prison showers. Now that's not something you hear everyday. At least 2 more chapters left to my little tale, maybe 3, I don't even know at this point. this shit writes itself. We still have some more recovery, Carol seeing the group for the first time since her secret was revealed, and don't forget, a wedding! Squee! A few more little scenes will be thrown in there as well, but I think we all know we're here for the Caryl. I'm working overtime all this week and am developing a serious dependency on 5 hour energy shots to get this story completed. But I will update as soon as possible. In the meantime, please review! Let me know what you think so far, what you might want to see happen. I'm open to suggestions at this point. xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Big thanks to everyone for your reviews and support. So, as promised, I stayed up way too late last night and managed to get this chapter finished. Then my internet went batshit crazy and I couldn't post. So, I'm currently sitting at McDonalds, nursing a cup of nasty coffee and milking their free Wi-Fi. I spent a whole $2.00 on shitty coffee just so I could provide my awesome readers with Caryl smut. I'm expecting reviews people, lots of them. This chapter is a little steamy, well not really, cold showers and all, but you know what I mean. Certainly rated M though. Read on!**

* * *

The showers in the prison were old and fairly dirty, but compared to the long months where they had nothing at all, they were an unimaginable luxury. Daryl was in the stall next to hers, scrubbing away the sweat and dirt from his skin. He could hear her next to him, humming along to some song that only she could hear. He wanted more than anything to be in there with her, but she had insisted on separate showers, claiming that if he really wasn't ready for anything to happen between them again, then being confined in a stall together, naked and wet and wanting probably wasn't the best idea. He couldn't really argue with logic like that, but it didn't make his need go away. He rubbed the bar of cheap soap down his body, trying to avoid touching his aching erection. The cold water was helping, but the fact that she was so close, their bare bodies separated by nothing more than a plastic curtain, that wasn't making it very easy for him to hold his resolve. He tried to think of something else, anything else, but when he heard a small moan come from behind the curtain, his resolve suddenly shattered. He slowly pushed the curtain aside and when he saw her, he nearly died from shock. She was standing under the cold spray, one hand on her breast, rolling the nipple between her fingers, and the other hand between her legs, her fingers working furiously at her most sensitive spot. Her eyes were scrunched tightly shut, and she was biting her bottom lip, trying like hell to stifle her whimpers as she neared her orgasm. He was mesmerized by the sight, his hand moving on its own down his chest. But he was so sensitive that as soon as his fingers wrapped around his cock, a gasp escaped his lips. The noise startled her, and he immediately released himself as her eyes shot open and zeroed in where he was standing, now beet red and sporting a hard on that looked almost painful.

She quickly stilled her own movements, embarrassed that he had caught her in such an awkward position. "Holy crap, Daryl! You scared me. I didn't even hear the curtain. What are you doing?"

He stammered as he responded, she may have stopped touching herself, but it was the only thing he could see right now. "I….um….I heard you….you moaned…I thought you were hurtin' again." he finally blurted out, unable to say the real reason that he had opened the curtain. That he wanted her, needed her, couldn't bear to be separated from her, even for the time it took them each to shower. "I guess you're fine, I'm just gonna finish my shower over here." He quickly took a step back and pulled the curtain shut before she even had a chance to respond. He stepped back under the cold water, cursing the fact that it wasn't colder. He was still hard as a rock and at this point, he didn't think jumping in a frozen lake could make that go away.

"What the hell am I doing? I tell her we can't do nothin' til I ain't gonna bruise her up, and then I go spying on her when she tries to take care of things herself. What the fuck is wrong with me? You ain't some kinda pervert, Dixon. Get it together. Think of something else. Think about walkers. Yeah, nasty, rotting corpses. Attacking, hungry for flesh. Her flesh. You gotta save her. Shoot the fuckers in the skull. There you go, she's safe. No wait, now she's looking up at you with those big blue eyes. Looking at you like she wants to kiss you. Oh fuck, this ain't gonna work."

No matter what he tried to think of to distract himself, it always came back to her. He could hear the water in her shower turn off, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe if she wasn't standing there, right next to him, then his little problem would go away. He was surprised however, when instead of hearing her footsteps exiting the stall, she ducked her head through the curtain and stepped into his space. He could barely tear his eyes away from her naked body, still wet and looking so enticing he thought he was gonna die right there. But he tore his eyes away long enough to glance up at her face, and the expression it held sent a shock right through him. She was staring at him, her blue eyes full of need and determination. He couldn't say anything, just watch her as she stepped forward, joining him under the spray of the shower and opening her mouth to speak.

"Daryl, this is stupid. You want me, I want you, we're getting married for goodness sake. I'm not going to break if you touch me. I might break if you don't. I'm not saying need to slam me up against the wall again, but I need something. Please? I'm not worried about getting a little bruised up. We know what's wrong with me now and it's not that big of a deal. Anyway, it's not like all bruises are a bad thing."

With that said, she leaned in and placed her lips on the side of his neck, kissing him gently at first, causing his breathing to quicken. Her tongue came into play, licking the cool water from his skin as she trailed it down to his chest, stopping right above the tattoo near his nipple. She kissed the spot, over and over until she started to suck, the skin on his chest slowly coloring until she pulled away, leaving behind the biggest, darkest hickey he had ever seen. She stepped back, a satisfied look on her face, as if she had proven her point. He was shaking with need at this point, and he just wanted to give in, spin her around and take her, putting an end to her desire and his. But that little voice in the back of his mind, the one that liked to tell him he was nothing more than an abusive redneck piece of shit just like his daddy, it just wouldn't let him do that. He might die trying, but he wasn't laying another finger on her in that way until he knew that he wouldn't hurt her in the process. He could see where his finger prints were still pressed into her arm, as well as on both of her hips. He was pretty sure that if she turned around, he would be able to find them on her ass as well. He just couldn't do that again. "Carol, we can't. I'm sorry I was watchin' you. I just can't. What can I say, I'm fucked up. I got issues, but you already know that. I just can't lose control again, and if we start foolin' around, I can't say for sure that I'm not gonna. You do things to me, woman. Things I ain't never felt before."

She looked at him as if she understood, but the determination still didn't leave her eyes. She took a step towards him, stretching up and kissing him softly on the lips. When she pulled away, she reached for his hand, and slowly guided it to his cock. "If you aren't going to touch me, you're going to touch yourself."

He gently pulled away from her grip. "Carol, I can't do that. Not with you in here. Not even with you in the same room. No, just no." he protested.

She wasn't deterred. She took a step back from him, her whole body now in his view. She leaned herself gently against the wall, and slowly brought her hands back to where they had been when he had walked in in her. "If I can do it with you watching, then so can you. Look at yourself, you look like you're going to explode and I feel like I am. There is nothing wrong with this." She never took her eyes from his as she slowly resumed her movements, one hand pinching her nipple and the other slowly rubbing over her heat.

His cock was twitching, begging him to just give in. He took a step towards her, wanting to still her hands, but all he could do was lean his forehead against hers and whisper. "Carol, I can't."

"Yes, you can. I want you to. I need to see what makes you feel good." she said in a breathy tone, her own pleasure already starting to build.

He surrendered to her plea. He closed his eyes as his hand moved down to his cock, which was now leaking at the tip and begging for release. He gently wrapped his fingers around his length, giving himself an experimental tug. His motions quickened when he heard her speak.

"Daryl, open your eyes. I want you to see me too."

They were connected in that moment, his eyes locked on her hand, the way her hips were bucking forward as she slowly teased herself into a frenzy. He was trying to hold back, slowly working his own hand up and down on his shaft, but her soft whimpers, the way she was watching him, like she was trying to absorb every detail of what made him moan and shake, it was too much. He knew he wouldn't last much longer at this rate and he whispered her name like it was a prayer. "Carol, come for me baby, please. I'm almost there. Just let go."

His words were the final push she needed, she cried out, her eyes intently locked on his as her orgasm shook her to her very core. He tightened his hand around his cock and one more thrust was all it took to break him. His came with such force that he thought his knees were going to buckle and he was going to collapse to the dirty shower floor. Instead, when he saw that the result of his orgasm had shot across her stomach, he gently wrapped one arm around her waist and guided her back under the spray of the shower, rinsing away the evidence from her skin. They stood there for a minute, the cold water helping to calm the flush in their cheeks and their labored breathing. He watched as a small smile formed on her lips and it gave him the strength to speak. "Holy fuck…that was….fuck…um…intense." he panted out, a smile forming on his own lips.

She leaned forward and kissed him softly before pulling away and sighing. "Yeah, I don't think I could have said that any better myself."

They stood together under the cold water until Daryl could see that Carol was starting to shiver. He quickly reached around her and shut off the spray. He pulled away from her long enough to grab the two towels that hung just outside the curtain, wrapping one around her body and tucking it in before doing the same to his waist. She was still smiling, a slightly dazed look in her eye as he guided her out of the shower and sat her down on the bench next to her clothes. Her eyes never left him as he dried himself off and pulled on his clean jeans. When he turned back around, she was giggling. He didn't realize what she was laughing at until she spoke.

"Sorry about that. I got a little carried away." she said, pointing at his chest.

He looked down and saw the huge hickey she had left on him. He shrugged. "It's okay. You give me a few more and we'll match." he said, referring to the marks which littered her skin.

She narrowed her eyes at him, smirking. "Did you just make a joke about my bruises? Really? After all that, you not even being able to touch me cause you don't want to leave a mark, you think they're funny now."

He walked over to her and bent down, kissing her until she was breathless. "Told you, I'm fucked up. Now get dressed. You're still wet and you're turning blue."

She obeyed, standing up from the bench and drying herself off. She picked up the bra and panties that he had grabbed for her and put them on, hearing him laugh when he saw that the panties didn't really cover anything, the small red thong leaving her ass almost completely exposed. She turned around, smiling at him when she saw that he was trying to suppress another laugh.

"So you think this is funny too, huh. You're the one that picked them out. I've never even worn them before. Maggie found a lingerie store on one of her and Glenn's runs and grabbed me all this frilly, lacy crap. I'd have been perfectly happy with cotton panties, but nope, she gets me thongs." she said, quickly slipping the dress over her head and letting it cover the offending garments.

He only laughed again when he saw how worked up she was. "I wasn't laughing at you. You look fucking great in them. I just thought it was funny that they don't really cover nothin'. Might as well just not wear any."

She thought about that for a moment and then lifted the hem of her dress, sliding the panties back down her legs and looking at them for a second before tossing them at him. "You have a point. You like them so much, keep them. I'd rather wear nothing than wear that uncomfortable thing."

He slipped the small piece of fabric in his back pocket and walked over to her. "You're fucking incredible, you know that. I don't know what the fuck has gotten into you, but I like it."

She smiled as she looked up at him from her place on the bench. "Nothing's gotten into me. Just you. What can I say, you do things to me too. You make me want to do things I never would have even dreamed about doing before. I'm a new and improved Carol." she admitted as she bent down and slipped on her flip flops. When she stood up, she stumbled a bit. He reached out and grabbed her waist, steadying her as she tried to shake away the dizziness that had suddenly hit her. "Sorry, just got a little lightheaded."

"Hey, it's okay. We should probably head down and see if Rick and Michonne are back from their run with your stuff. You might be a new Carol, but you still got some improving left to do."

She wasn't really prepared to see everyone just yet, but she knew he was right. She picked up her towel and finished drying her hair, running her fingers through the short curls until they were in some kind of order, softly framing her face. She looked at Daryl. "So what do you think? I don't look too bad, right. I don't look like a sick, crazy person, do I?" she asked, trying to make it sound funny. But Daryl could sense the hesitation in her voice.

"Carol, what did I tell you? You sure as hell ain't crazy, no crazier than the rest of us. And so what if you look sick? Nobody is gonna care. They're just happy you're gonna get better. So stop worrying. It's gonna be fine."

She was quiet for a moment as she stepped away from him and picked up their towels, hanging them back up by the shower. When she turned back to him, he could see that his words must have had some effect, because most of the doubt had left her eyes. "Alright, we might as well get this over with."

He made his way to where she stood and pulled her hand into his. "It's gonna be fine, really. No one is mad at you. Most of them don't even really know what happened. They just know that you thought you had cancer and now they know you don't. They just wanna see you. Beth said she needed some advice on some kinda girl problem. Face it, they're probably fallin' apart down there without you."

She smiled. "No they're not, but that was sweet of you to say. I know everyone's worried about me." She gripped his hand tighter and pulled him towards the door. "Come on, let's go."

They made their way back through the prison, her grasp on his hand getting almost painfully hard by the time they reached the doors to the common room. They stopped for a moment, looking at each other. "You ready?" he asked.

She glanced at him and then at the door. "Not really, but I have to do this. I can do this. Just don't let go of my hand, okay?"

He locked his fingers through hers. "Not going anywhere. Never again."

* * *

**Whew, I need a smoke, how about you? I always feel weird writing sex scenes, my hubby is more of a "wham bam thank you mam" kind of guy, so that's doesn't really give me much to work with from my own personal experience. So I hope that wasn't too out there. Let me know what you think. I'm a whore for input. Currently working on the next chapter, and perhaps if I'm motivated enough, I'll buy another cup of McCrap coffee and have it uploaded for you tonight. Thanks for reading! **


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: I want to thank everyone for following. I finally got my internet working, so here is the new chapter you were promised. Read on!**

* * *

Carol breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the common room. It was still empty, except for Beth, who was standing by the stove, looking frazzled as she bounced Judith on her hip with one hand and stirred the soup in the pot in front of her with the other. She looked around the room and found that even though she had only stopped working a few days ago, it was a mess. Dishes littered the tables, and there was a pile of laundry in the corner that looked like it was on the verge of tipping over from growing so high. She couldn't contain the laugh that escaped from her lips. "Daryl was right, they are falling apart without me." she thought as Beth heard her chuckle and turned around, her eyes lighting up as she rushed towards her.

"Carol, I'm so happy to see you! How are you feeling? I was so worried about you." she said excitedly as she wrapped her free arm around her waist, pulling her in for a hug.

When Beth pulled away, Carol just smiled at the blond girl. "I'm feeling just fine sweetheart. Just had a little scare is all. But it's over now and I'll be back to normal in no time. So, you look like you need a little help in here. Where do you want me to start?"

Daryl squeezed her hand a little tighter, a gentle reminder to not push her luck. But Beth had it covered, placing her free hand on her hip and narrowing her eyes playfully at Carol. "You can start by sitting yourself down. told me that you are under strict orders to rest and that I was not allowed to let you lift a finger if you came down here before he and Rick got back with your medicine. So just grab a chair and I'll get you something to eat."

Carol looked at Daryl as if he was going to help her, but when she saw the slight smirk on his lips she knew she had no choice but to listen. She pulled him along with her as she sat down at the only clean table she could find. His hand never left hers as he sat down in the seat next to hers, but when she looked over at him, his smirk had only grown as he leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"She told you, didn't she? You ain't working yet, deal with it."

She pulled away from him and smiled as Beth came over and placed a plate of stew in front of her. She really wasn't hungry, she was still full from the fruit and oatmeal she had eaten not two hours earlier. But Beth sat down at the table, moving Judith to sit in her lap as she watched Carol expectantly. Carol sighed in defeat and picked up her fork, placing a small bite of food in her mouth and chewing. The gesture seemed to be enough to placate Beth, who smiled and started bouncing Judith on her knee as she began to speak.

"That stuff is pretty good, right? Carl brought me a couple of squirrels this morning. I even skinned them myself. It was so gross, but after the first one it wasn't too bad. I'm starting to get the hang of all this stuff. It's no wonder you got sick though, I've only been doing this for a few days and I'm exhausted. I'm sorry I didn't start helping you more before. That's not gonna happen again. Once you're all healed up, you're the boss, just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it. I just wish I had noticed how bad you felt before, all the bruises and stuff. Maybe if I had, you wouldn't have gotten so sick."

Carol reached out and placed a hand on Beth's. "Sweetheart, my getting sick was my own fault, no one else's. But I appreciate the offer to help more around here. And I certainly don't want to be the boss. We'll just work together, okay?" she said, watching Beth smile sweetly in response.

"Okay. We'll work together. I'm just so glad you're going to be okay. I really need you here. Maggie isn't much help when it comes to this kind of stuff, and Michonne, well, you know Michonne. She talks even less than Daryl does." she said, glancing sheepishly at Daryl, who just shrugged the comment off. It was true, he wasn't exactly a chatterbox.

Carol smiled. She was touched by the young girl's words. Though she had never said anything, she sometimes liked to think that if Sophia had lived, she and Beth would have been close, that Beth would have been like the sister that she had never been able to bring herself to give her. "I'm glad I'm going to be okay too. And anytime you ever need to talk to me, you just let me know. I'm gonna be around for a long, long time, god willing."

Beth smiled and shifted Judith in her lap, the baby growing fussy. "Well, I actually did have something I wanted to get your advice on, if you don't mind?" she asked, a shy expression coming to her face.

Carol remembered what Daryl had said, that Beth needed to ask her something about a girl problem. As much as it pained her to do it, she slowly slid her hand from his and looked at him. "Daryl, do you think you could take Judith for a few minutes? She looks like she's getting fussy and Beth has been working so hard to pick up my slack, she looks like she needs a break. Do you want to take her out to the yard for a little while?" she asked him, her eyes silently imploring him to take the hint.

Daryl had been so preoccupied watching Carol, how well she was reacting to being with someone other than him after all of her fear, that he almost didn't hear her. But when he saw the look she was giving him, he snapped out of his daze and moved to take the squirming, babbling baby from Beth's arms. "Come on Asskicker, looks like we're being kicked out of here. Uncle Daryl is gonna take you outside and we'll let the big girls talk. Maybe I'll show you how to kill a biter." he said to the little girl who was now playing with the buttons on the front of his shirt. He looked down and saw that Beth and Carol were both looking at him with matching expressions of amused shock. "Shit, I was kidding. I'm gonna take her out and let her scoot around in the grass and try and make sure she doesn't eat any bugs. Fuck, give me a little credit." he told them, jokingly defensive.

Carol just smiled and pulled him down gently, kissing him softly before giving Judith a little peck on the nose. "Hey there, pretty girl, don't you listen to him when he says those big bad words. Don't tell anyone, but he's a big old softie underneath all that cussin' and crankiness." She looked up at him and him and saw that his cheeks had reddened slightly, his expression unreadable. He smiled at her slightly before making his way out of the room and into the yard.

Carol and Beth were left alone at the table. Beth looked like she wanted to say something but didn't know where to begin. Carol waited patiently, picking at her stew until the young girl finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Carol, what do you do if you like a guy, but you aren't really sure if he likes you back? I mean, how do you get him to tell you without seeming , like, desperate or anything?"

Carol couldn't contain her laugh when she heard Beth's question. Her own experience didn't really give her much help when it came to answering something like this. "Well, I guess the best thing to do would be to tell him yourself how you feel."

Beth nodded, as if she was taking notes in her head. "Is that what you did with Daryl, did you just tell him that you loved him?"

Carol laughed again when she realized that she was giving out advice that she hadn't even been able to follow herself. "Actually, no. I had to pass out in the yard before either one of us got the guts to say anything to the other one about how we felt. I don't recommend that though. I really wouldn't worry about this though sweetie, I can already tell you that Carl likes you."

Beth looked at her, confused for a moment before she realized what Carol had meant. She shook her head. "No, not Carl. I know he likes me, he follows me around like a puppy and I think I caught him trying to peek in at me once when I was getting changed. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but he's just a kid. I'm going to be nineteen in two weeks and he just turned fourteen. I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about Dr. Eric." she explained, her voice putting a dreamy emphasis on his name.

Carol nearly choked on the bite of stew she had just put in her mouth. She wasn't really surprised that Beth didn't feel the way about Carl that he obviously felt about her, but the fact that this usually quiet, reserved girl was sitting here asking her for romance advice about a man she had just met the night before, a man that had to be at least 10 years older than her, that had nearly shocked the hell out of her. She looked at the girl questioningly. "Dr. Eric? The guy we just brought back here last night? I'm sorry Beth, don't get me wrong, I like the guy too, he pretty much saved my life, but really? Isn't he a little old for you?"

Beth just smiled sweetly and shook her head. "Carol, I know I just met him, but have you ever looked at someone and just felt a spark run through your whole body. I thought he was just a nice guy when Rick introduced us all to him. But after everything that happened last night, with you and all, he came wandering back down here alone and caught me trying to get some more work done while everyone was asleep. I must have been singing to myself and when I turned around, he was just looking at me with this funny look, not like the boys at school used to look at me, like they just wanted to see me naked or something, but with this sweet shy look, like Jimmy used to give me. He didn't do anything, he just smiled at me and told me I had a pretty voice and then he grabbed a bottle of water and left. I swear to you Carol, I almost melted into a puddle on the floor."

Carol could certainly relate to the way the girl was feeling. God help her, she had felt the same way the first time she had ever laid eyes on Daryl. She was still married to Ed at the time and if he'd had even the slightest indication that she had even looked at another man, he would have beat her until she couldn't stand. But the first time she had ever seen him, sweaty and dirty, pulling into their first camp in his beat up old pickup, a scowl on his face and his asshole brother at his side, she had felt the same spark that Beth was referring to now. She had felt so guilty at the time, like her involuntary reaction to this strange, angry man made her somehow a worse wife than she had already believed herself to be. But now, looking back, maybe her body had been trying to tell her something. Like it was trying to make her see that he was the one she was meant to be with, like their bodies were somehow connected and now that they were so close they were sending signals to each other. It was the only theory she had, because she had never felt that spark before, not even when she had first met Ed, who, despite the man he became, had been a pretty decent guy once upon a time. She looked at Beth, the blond girl waiting patiently for an answer. After a moment of thought, Carol finally gave her one. "Beth, honey, I can't really say for sure what that spark means, but I felt it the first time I saw Daryl. All I can tell you is to be careful, but go with your gut. If you want to like him, you go right ahead. But you might want to at least talk to him a few times before you go telling him. I know he just lost his wife and I don't really know much else about him. But I know that Rick trusts him and says he's a good guy. Just find out for yourself before you go doing anything, okay?"

Beth practically knocked Carol off of her chair when she reached out and hugged her. "Thank you! I knew you would be able to help me. I love you, Carol. I'm so happy I'm not going to lose you. I knew you'd understand."

Carol was happy that she'd been able to help and Beth's kind words filled her heart with warmth. "I love you too Beth. I hope everything goes the way you want it too. Life's too damn short to be worrying about stuff like this. If you can find someone that makes you happy in this screwed up world, grab on to them and don't let go. It took me way too long to learn that, but now that I have, I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure I never forget it."

As if on cue, Daryl entered the common room, holding a smiling baby Judith away from his body. He looked at the two women with a sheepish expression on his face. "Um, if you two are done talking, I think Asskicker might need an ass changing, if you know what I mean. I've killed walkers that didn't smell as bad as she does right now."

Beth hopped up cheerfully from her chair and took Judith from his hands. "I'll take her back to our cell and change her stinky little butt. Thanks for watching her for me." she said as she made her way out of the room.

Daryl looked at the way Carol was smiling and he sat down next to her and took her hand back into his own. "So, you look like you ain't feelin' so nervous anymore. You and Beth have a good talk?"

Carol nodded her head. "Yeah, it was a very good talk. I really don't feel so nervous anymore. I think I'm going to be okay talking to everyone. I hope so anyway."

Daryl leaned in and kissed her softly. "You'll be fine. Everyone is gonna be as happy to see you as that little girl was. Even if they weren't, you'd handle it. You're tougher than you let yourself think. Not some big softie like me." he said, his tone becoming more teasing when he said the last part.

Carol just smiled. "Face it Dixon, you aren't the same angry, cursing, fighting, squirrel throwing guy you were when I met you. Well, not entirely anyway. We've both changed, for the better I think."

Daryl couldn't disagree with her there. "You're right, but that don't mean I'm suddenly gonna start being some whipped pansy either. Just cause I like I'm bein' a little nicer these days don't mean I couldn't still beat someone's ass if I wanted too." he said, a little too defensively.

Carol laughed. "Calm down, don't worry, I won't tell anyone else how sweet and wonderful you've been. It'll be our secret." she said, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek, pulling away only to whisper in his ear. "As for you beating someone's ass, I won't let you beat mine, but if you're good, I might let you do other things to it."

Daryl pulled back and saw that her blue eyes were shining as she watched his cheeks turn bright red. "Jesus, woman. You really are trying to kill me, aren't you? You know we ain't doing nothing til you're better or at least on your way there. I barely survived this morning and then you gotta say something like that."

She smiled at him and shrugged. "Just wanted to let you know it was an option."

Daryl couldn't help it. He leaned in and kissed her hard, leaving her panting when he finally pulled away. "I give up. As long as you keep eating and you get some of your medicine into you when they get back, I promise that I'll try to get over my shit about bruising you. Just stop sayin' shit like that or I might have to just make love to you on this table and I don't think anyone really wants to walk in on that."

She didn't say anything else, just picked up her fork and finished her meal in no time flat. Daryl nodded at her in approval when he saw her empty dish. They sat together in silence as they waited for the rest of the group to return, each anxiously awaiting the medicine that would help her to physically heal. Mentally, after the events of this morning, she felt like she was just about there.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review. Update soon. xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: I love all you guys for your support. Your reviews and follows seriously make my life a little brighter. This is not a super long chapter, but I hope that it meets with your approval. Read on!**

* * *

It was getting late by the time everyone had started to come back into the common room. Hershel and Carl had come in first and true to his word, Daryl never let go of Carol's hand as she was welcomed back by the two with just as much enthusiasm as Beth, who had returned with Judith. Maggie and Glenn had returned next, coming over to hug her and tell her how worried they had been and how happy they were that she was going to be okay. But after the all of the greetings and well wishes had been said, a common question had hung in the air. What exactly had happened? Rick had not explained much to them, only that she had thought she had cancer and that it was now impossible, but that she was sick. She took a deep breath and tried to explain as they all sat around her, listening closely to her as she spoke.

"I had cancer, leukemia, back before the walkers happened. I fought it and went into remission. And then the world went to hell. I was never sure when it would come back, but I knew it was only a matter of time, the fear was always in the back of my mind. So when I started getting bruises about four months back, I just assumed that my time was up. I just sort of gave up, stopped eating, got way too stressed out and ended up making myself sicker. I figured I was going to die anyway, so it didn't really matter what happened to me. I went a little crazy, but I'm sure you all know that. But I'm going to be just fine, according to our new friend Eric. I just have to start eating and take all of the supplements that I need and I'll be back down here in no time, cooking and cleaning just like I always have. I should have said something a long time ago, I know that now. The only thing I can say is that I was scared and I didn't want to worry anyone, didn't want to be a burden again. Can you all forgive me?"

The group was silent for a moment, each looking at her like they were on the verge of tears. Hershel blinked his back and leaned over, pulling her in for a hug before releasing her and looking into her eyes. "Carol, there is nothing that you need to be forgiven for. We should all be begging your forgiveness for not realizing that there was something wrong with you. For making you feel like you couldn't tell us what was going on. We take you for granted, we're all guilty of it. But if you think for a second that the only reason we want you well is so that you can do the housework, you are sorely mistaken. We love you Carol, we're family, all of us. I'm sorry if we've never told you that. But I can say that for me, you are just as much one of my daughters as Beth and Maggie are. You've been like a mama to both my girls, Glenn and Carl too. You hold us together, you make this place a home. I know that life hasn't been kind to you, it's obvious that you've never thought all that much of yourself, but you need to know that. You are a pretty amazing woman, we all know it, Daryl seems to know it, judging by the way he hasn't left your side in days, and I think it's about time you realized it. You are in no way a burden on any of us. We're just glad that god gave us all another chance to show you that."

Daryl held her hand tightly as he watched her blue eyes fill with tears. It was pretty clear that no one, aside from him, had ever said anything to her nearly as kind as the words Hershel just spoke. It was now even more apparent to him that her life had been just as hard as his had been. He didn't know all that much about her former life, aside from the hell she had been through with Ed. But it was obvious that somewhere along the line, she had just accepted the fact that she was nothing. But he knew that nothing could be further from the truth. And so did everyone else apparently. She was strong, funny, loyal, smart, and for him, the sweetest, sexiest woman he had ever known.

Everyone else was nodding as they looked at her, trying to show her they felt the same. She smiled as she sniffed back her tears, and pulled them all in, hugging them one by one. It was an emotional scene to say the least, but when it was over, it was as if a dark cloud had been lifted. Rick, Michonne and Eric had chosen that moment to return and they had brought with them all of the supplements needed to make her well. They had walked into the middle of a happy room and they each made their way over to Carol, expressing their own feelings about how much she meant to them, even Eric, who once again thanked her for rescuing him from the woods, before giving her a bag full of bottles of pills and a brief list of instructions for how to take them. She couldn't help but notice the way his eyes found Beth in the room, even as he was speaking to her, and it just made her smile all the more. This was it, this was her life now. She didn't see the dark walls of the prison they called home, she didn't think about the groaning walkers just beyond their fences. All she could see were these people. Rick and Michonne, a stranger couple than even her and Daryl, leaning in close and whispering to one another. Carl, smiling more than she had seen him do in months, sitting on the floor playing peek-a-boo with his sweet baby sister. Glenn and Maggie, sitting together, her head on his shoulder, secure in the knowledge that they had each other. Hershel, sitting quietly off to the side, watching with a curious expression as he saw Eric make his way over to Beth, who was finishing up supper, and shyly ask her if she needed any help. These people were truly her family. She had brothers and sisters, children, and most of all, a man to share it all with. She looked at Daryl, who had stayed quiet through everything, but had never left her side, had never even let go of her hand. This man, this mystery of a man, was staring at her, his eyes brighter than ever before as he smiled when her eyes met his. She knew now more than ever what that spark she had felt when she first met him meant. This was her soulmate, the part of her that had been missing her whole life, the empty place in her that she had tried to fill with work, with Ed and Sophia, with any distraction she could find. It had taken the end of the world to find him but now that she had him, she wasn't wasting any more time. She never broke her eyes away from his as she spoke up.

"Rick, I need you to do something for me?"

Rick walked over to her, slightly amused by the strange look on her face. "What did you need Carol?"

She didn't even look at him, she just held up her hand, the one that held her makeshift ring. Daryl raised an eyebrow at her, curious as to what she was doing. She didn't falter, she was determined that this was happening tonight. "We're getting married, can you do it?" she asked, directing the question to both of them.

Daryl just nodded, watching at her as intensely as she was him. They both looked up however, when the heard Rick's loud laugh.

"What the hell is that thing? he asked as he pulled Carol's hand towards him. He laughed again as he studied it. "Is that…is that a paperclip?"

Daryl and Carol looked at each other for a moment before, returning their gaze to him, each narrowing their eyes a little as they replied, almost in unison. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

Rick just laughed harder, his face turning red as he released Carol's hand and slipped his hand into his pocket. He pulled out three rings, a small diamond solitaire and two gold bands, one thin and one a bit wider. He dropped them on the table and tried to contain his amusement before he spoke.

"I'll marry you two, but not with that thing on her finger. Those rings were mine and Lori's. I was planning on giving them to you later, I kind of had a feeling this was coming. You don't want to know what I had to do to get Lori's rings and the diamond isn't even real, it's a fake, not that Lori ever knew that, but if you want them they're yours. Maybe you'll have better luck with them than I did."

Carol's eyes were fixed on the rings on the table, and Daryl looked up at Rick with an expression of gratitude. He reached over and grabbed Carol's hand, gently slipping off the ring she had made herself in the heat of the moment. He slipped it in his pocket, wanting to keep it as a reminder of just how amazing she could be. He picked up the two smaller rings from the table and slipped them easily on to her thin finger, at first slightly bothered by the fact that they actually fit, but happy nonetheless to see that she finally had something that was a bit closer to what she deserved. She smiled as she looked at her hand, and she picked up the remaining gold band and reached for his hand, struggling a bit to slip it over his knuckle, but grinning triumphantly when it finally passed by the rough skin and settled around the base of his finger. They didn't look away from each other as she spoke. "Rick, just say man and wife, okay? We don't need all those vows, we've already said what we needed to say to each other."

Everyone was now watching this little display in awe. Rick chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Right now?" he asked, getting a nod from the two in response. " Fine, but you two aren't getting off that easy. If we're having a wedding, then we're having a wedding. Vows and all."

Daryl laughed and Carol looked up at Rick, smiling but almost glaring at the same time. He stepped back and raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, just a few vows. Jesus, Carol, has anyone ever told you that you're kind of scary when you want something."

She smiled a bit at his joke. "No, I've never really wanted anything enough before to be scary about it."

Rick just smiled and nodded in understanding. "Alright then, let's do this." he said, directing Daryl and Carol to join hands. They did, trapped in each other's eyes as he started to speak. "Daryl, do you promise to love Carol, to protect her, to care for her until the day you die?"

Daryl heard the words but all he could see was her. He nodded as he said the first thing that popped into his head. "Fuck yes." Realizing he had just sworn during his wedding, he broke his eyes away from hers, only to have them drawn back in when he heard her laugh.

Rick smiled as he continued. "Carol, do you promise to love Daryl, to protect him, to care for him until the day you die?"

She smiled as she spoke. "Hell yes, I do."

Rick looked at the rest of the group, who were all watching this happen as if they didn't quite believe it was real. He tried his best to sound professional as he started to speak. "Well then, by the power vested in me by, well, no one, because this isn't legal, I now pronounce you man and wife. Now you two kiss so we can all eat supper.

The group started to laugh and cheer, but Daryl and Carol didn't hear any of it. Everything else faded away as their lips met, sealing their promises to one another. The kiss lingered, becoming more heated until they finally heard Rick's voice break through the haze they were trapped in.

"Seriously Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, knock it off or get a room, some of us are hungry."

They reluctantly broke apart to see that everyone in the room was watching them. Carol just laughed and buried her blushing face in Daryl's chest, but Daryl looked at them all is if there was nothing out of the ordinary happening. "What? I'm kissin' my wife. You ain't gotta look. Go get your food people."

Everyone was smiling, but they did as they were told, wandering over to the area by the stove and leaving Daryl and Carol alone, still seated at the table. Carol peeked her head up and when she saw that they were no longer being watched, she leaned in and kissed him again, briefly but passionately. When she finally pulled away, she was beaming. "So, I guess we just got married, huh?"

Daryl watched her, the way she was looking at him, her smile, every single detail of the way she looked right now. He never wanted to forget a single bit of this moment. He finally nodded. "Yeah, I think we did."

She laughed as she looked over to where the rest of the group was standing, filling their plates and talking. When she glanced back at Daryl she could see that he had a look of pure need on his face. Remembering what he had said, she quickly grabbed her bottle of water and the bag of pills that she had been given. "You said once I had some medicine in me we were good, right?"

He could already feel himself begin to harden as he watched her take a pill from each of the bottles and pop them in her mouth, taking a huge swig of water to wash them all down. After she had swallowed, she glanced over her shoulder one last time before leaning closer to him, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered. "Let's get out of here. I need you, now." she said.

That was all he needed to hear. He grabbed her by the hand and gently pulled her from her chair as they quickly made their way out of the room.

When the rest of the group made their way back to the tables, there was no sign left of them aside from the bag of pills and a half empty bottle of water that had been overturned in their rush to leave. Rick laughed as he picked it up and wiped up the puddle of water from the tabletop. Michonne gave him one of her rare smiles, a gesture that was only reserved for him.

"We aren't going to see them again for awhile, are we?" she asked.

Rick just smiled and shook his head. "No, I don't think we are. Not tonight anyway. We'll leave them be. After everything they've been through, they deserve a night alone. A honeymoon."

* * *

**There you have it, my loyal Caryl shippers. A wedding as unique and intense as our favorite couple. I hope you liked it as much as I liked writing it. Only one chapter left, and as I'm sure you've figured out, it's going to be a hot one. Sweet newlywed smut awaits. Hope to have it posted by tomorrow. Thanks for reading and please, please review. xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Final chapter! Thank you to everyone for your support. I love you guys. Read on!**

* * *

They had barely made it ten steps beyond the door of the common room when Carol attacked, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and bringing her lips to his with a furious passion, his tongue almost immediately meeting hers as they explored each other, somehow managing to keep moving towards the cell block as they lost themselves in their desires. Carol pulled him towards her cell, but he broke away from her assault just long enough to gasp out a few words. "Not in there. I got plans for you and ain't nobody needs to hear you but me." He reached down and, still mindful of her bruises, lifted her gently up so that her legs wrapped around his waist. Her lips moved to suck and bite at his neck as he carried her back to their secret room. Well, it wasn't a secret anymore, but he knew that no one was going to come looking for them tonight. And god help them if they did.

He had just managed to kick the door open before her lips were again on his, and he kissed her back heatedly, stroking her tongue with his own as his knees collided with the edge of the bed. He hadn't been lying when he said he had plans for her. He had no idea is this would be something she liked, he didn't even really know if he would, but goddamn it, he was willing to try anything with her. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gently unwrapped her legs from his waist.

She reluctantly pulled her lips from his as he guided her to stand in front of him. She was aching for his touch and all she wanted to do was climb back in his lap and kiss him until neither one could breathe, but when she saw the look in his eyes, she stopped herself. She knew this look all too well, having seen it many times in the last few days. Bossy Daryl, demanding Daryl. She hadn't been kidding when she told him that she liked it when he bossed her around, something about the love in his voice when he did it just sent shivers up her spine. She stood there, waiting to hear him speak.

He watched the way her body was trembling in anticipation and it only made him bolder. His voice was deep and low when finally spoke. "Carol, take your dress off. I wanna see every inch of you."

She smiled as she did what she was told, sliding the straps of her dress down her shoulders, one at a time and achingly slow. When her arms were free, she pushed the bodice down, exposing her red lace bra until it finally slid down over the swell of her breasts and the garment fell to the floor. She had never grabbed another pair of panties and she was now clad in nothing more than her bra and a smile as his hungry eyes looked deep into her own.

She didn't move, just waited to hear his next request. He didn't give one, he just stood and quickly removed his own clothes before reaching forward and undoing the clasp on the front of her bra. It was then that he spoke. "Take it off." It was quickly dropped to the floor along with her dress. She saw the fire his eyes now contained, it nearly knocked her backwards.

He scanned her body up and down, drinking in every single detail of the woman who was now his wife. He looked back at her face and saw that there was a small flicker of doubt in her blue eyes. He wasn't going to let her doubt a thing, not tonight, not ever if he could help it. He leaned forward and kissed her softly, breaking away only to spin her around and gently wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her naked body against his own, his throbbing erection now pressed firmly against her ass. She moaned softly at the contact and unconsciously pushed herself back against him. He knew what she wanted, but he wasn't ready yet. He brought his lips down to softly kiss her neck before brushing them against her earlobe and whispering. "Anybody ever told you how fucking beautiful you are?"

Her body stiffened, she didn't mind the fact that they were both exposed, it's not like it was the first time, and hell, they were married now. But his words caused her throat to tighten. At no point in her life had anyone ever used the word beautiful to describe her. Her parents had called her pretty, and Ed had once told her she was cute, but he had said it sarcastically after hitting her so hard she saw stars. She realized that he had actually said it to her once, when he had asked her to marry him. But right now, the way his breath ghosted over her skin as he nuzzled her neck softly, it was too much. She wanted to pull away and get closer all at the same time. She stood there in silence until he spoke again.

"You gonna answer me?"

She spoke softly. "No, no one has ever told me that, except you and then you called me a stubborn ass." she admitted, suddenly wishing that she had her dress back on.

He stopped sucking on a sensitive spot below her ear when he finally heard her words. "Well, people are fucking idiots. I'm a fucking idiot." He unwrapped his arms from her waist for a moment and gently spun her back around to face him. Her cheeks were red and her eyes wouldn't meet his. He reached up and tilted her chin, forcing her to look. "Don't you look away from me. I wanna tell you how gorgeous you are, I'm gonna."

She swallowed her discomfort and nodded. She couldn't help the whimper that escaped her lips when he leaned in and kissed her along the collarbone, his movements continuing as he placed soft kisses all over her neck, finally stopping as he moved to sit back down on the bed. She took a step forward and saw that his cock was now aching for contact. But he saw her looking and he stopped her before she could make another move.

"Not yet, I ain't done with you." he said as he gently grasped her hips and pulled her closer, placing her directly before him, positioned between his open legs, her breasts only inches away from his face. He looked up at her and saw that she was watching him intently, waiting for him to make the next move. He did, running his hands up her back, feeling her shiver as he darted his tongue out and, one at a time, flicked the tip of it across her hard pink nipples. His eyes never left hers as he whispered. "Fuckin' beautiful." He brought one of them back to his lips, nipping at it lightly, causing her to moan, before sucking it into his mouth to soothe the sting. He repeated the action on her other breast and by the time he was done her legs were shaking and she was breathing heavy. He took that at a sign and moved his lips down to her flat stomach. She was still covered in fading bruises and old scars and his kissed every one of them, paying special attention to the ones he had placed on her pale skin. When he had pressed his lips to every last one, he glanced back up at her and saw that a few tears had formed in her bright blue eyes. "Don't you cry woman, ain't no reason. Every one of those marks is a part of you, same as mine."

She smiled softly and blinked back her tears, only one managing to escape and slide down her cheek. He felt an urge and went with it, reaching his hand up and collecting the drop of moisture on his finger tip, only to bring it back down and slide it into his mouth, tasting the salt on his skin. She moaned softly as she watched him, and the sound just drove him. He removed the wet finger from his mouth and slid his hand down, his fingers entering her easily as she was already wet and waiting for him. He flexed his fingers experimentally and as one brushed over a spot inside of her that felt somewhat rougher that the rest, he felt her clench around him as she cried out. He watched her face as he continued to rub his fingertips over the area, stopping only to occasionally thrust them deeper inside of her tight core.

She was biting her lip and whispering his name, but she never looked away until she had finally had enough. Her muscles tightened around his fingers one last time as she came, her release pulsing through her as she felt a gush of warmth between her legs. She felt so weak and she would have collapsed to the floor, but Daryl had gently wrapped his free arm around her waist and was supporting her as he continued to tease her, his slick fingers now working furiously against her clit. She was already in a daze, overly sensitive and aching, but he didn't stop, not even when she cried out. "Daryl, oh my god, I can't take much more!" He just bit his lip in determination and continued his movements, feeling her shake as she screamed, a second orgasm flooding her body with sensation. He moved his hand from her heat, holding her until she came down from the cloud she was quite obviously on. Every cell in her body was screaming for rest, she was lightheaded and not in a bad way, not from her sickness, but from the overload on her nerves. But Daryl never released her, he just scooted himself a little closer to the edge of the bed and closed his legs, guiding her body so that when she finally sat, her ass was resting on his knees

He could feel just how relaxed she was, it was no effort at all to move her. Her gaze was still hazy, but when she started to come around, her eyes locked onto his, a look of awe and love contained in the bright blue orbs. She was still panting and when she finally gathered enough air to speak, it was in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"That was… so…oh my…fucking…incredible."

He couldn't help but smile as he thought back to their encounter in the shower, the way he had stuttered out his words after it was over. Now she was the one who had come undone and he couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself for causing that reaction. Still, he had to ask. He knew that he was blushing as he spoke. "Was that good? I mean, I ain't never really, you know, like that before."

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her forehead against his. "That was more erotic than anything I have ever felt, seen, read about, or dreamed of. It was perfect." She pulled her head from his and glanced down to see that his poor neglected cock was practically screaming out for her touch. She started to inch her hand towards it, but he grabbed her, silently cursing himself when he realized that the hand that he gripped hers with was the one that had just been inside of her. Maybe she wouldn't notice. "Carol, I told you before, I ain't done with you yet. Just wait."

She glanced down at the hand on hers and saw that his fingers were still wet. She didn't know where the urge came from, but she wasn't about to question it, not tonight. She lifted it upwards and watched him closely as she parted her lips and sucked his middle finger into her mouth, practically moaning as she tasted herself on his rough skin. He closed his eyes at the feeling and when they opened back up, they contained a fire that lit her skin up in flames. "Fuck it. Stand up and turn around." He commanded.

She did as she was told, quickly jumping up from his lap and turning her back to him. He placed his hands on her hips, not hard like she was expecting, but softly, like he was still determined that he was not going to put another mark on her. His voice however, was rough as he spoke. "You remember before, you told me I couldn't beat your ass, but other things were an option. I don't want nothin' weird, but I wanna feel it against me while I make love to you. Is that okay?"

She had barely managed to squeak out a yes when he was pulling her back down into his lap, entering her in one swift motion. For a moment they didn't move, he was buried inside of her and the heat, the tightness was almost too much to take. He took a few deep breaths and lifted her slightly, the sheer friction of the movement nearly making him come on the spot. "Shit, Carol, I don't think this is gonna last very long. I'm sorry." he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his cheek to her bare back.

"Daryl, it's okay. I'm so sensitive it isn't going to take much to send me flying back over the edge. Anyway, it's my turn to make you feel good."

With that said, she opened her legs a bit wider, bracing herself as she slowly rolled her hips against him. His arms tightened slightly around her as he groaned. He broke one hand free from his grasp on her waist and moved it down to her clit, which was still a hard little nub. He barely touched it when he felt her walls clench around him and heard her whimper. Her movements sped up, as did his. He held himself back from the edge, wanting to reach it with her. He wished for a moment that he could see her face, but the view he had was nearly as good. He looked down and watched her ass as it slid up and down his stomach while she rode him, each thrust driving him closer and closer to his release. He rolled her clit between his fingers one last time and her hips jerked up and slammed back down as she cried out. He felt her orgasm hit her and he finally let go, clutching her body tightly as he allowed his release to fill her.

They were both trembling, lost in the afterglow as he lifted her from his lap and hauled her up onto the bed next to him. She looked completely exhausted, but she was smiling. Her eyes were focused on him and when she found the strength to move, she leaned in and kissed him, soft and lingering. When she pulled away, she had a strange look on her face. "Daryl, I know I asked you this once before, but are you sure that I'm awake right now? Because I'm pretty damn sure this isn't real. This whole situation is too bizarre, too perfect. Less than a week ago, I was lying in my cell, alone, wondering when I was going to die. Now, I'm miraculously going to live, you finally told me you loved me, we got married, and I just had the most mind blowing, fantastic sex of my life. This is a dream, right? I'm going to wake up soon and you're going to be out in the perch and I'm still going to have cancer, right?" she asked, completely serious.

He only laughed as he moved back in the bed and dragged her back to lay next to him. "Carol, don't make me pinch you. We just did all that and I'm pretty sure I didn't leave any more bruises. Don't make me start now." he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist, her back to him as he pulled her closer and settled his chin in the crook of her neck.

She sighed as she snuggled her body closer to his. "I know that this is real, but still, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things like this don't happen to me. They just don't." she admitted, her voice quiet.

"They don't happen to me either. If someone had told me a week ago that this was any of this shit was gonna happen, I'd have thought they were fucking nuts. But, I guess they're right. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe the reason for all the bad shit in our lives was so we could appreciate the good. I love you, Carol. Now go to sleep, you still need to be resting and if I don't go hunting tomorrow, then we're all gonna starve." He felt her warm body begin to relax and he pulled the covers over them as he heard her whisper into the darkness.

"Fine, I'm going to sleep, but just in case we're both wrong and this really is a dream, I just wanted to tell you , I have never loved another person the way that I love you. You're mean and crude and sometimes you can be a real asshole. But underneath all of that, there is this amazing man, and I still can't quite believe that he's mine. I love you Daryl. I always will, no matter what." she said, her voice fading into a whisper as she let her exhaustion take her.

Her words replayed in his head as he started to drift off. After everything that had happened between them, he knew that she was wrong. This wasn't a dream, this was real, the beginning of their lives together. It didn't matter how they got to this point. They were here now and nothing on this earth could change that. In the end, their two damaged souls had finally become one.

* * *

**Daryl and Carol are truly together and all is right with the world. You know, except for the fact that's it's still the zombie apocalypse. I may expand upon this particular universe a bit more later on, maybe do a story about Rick and Michonne or Beth and her own personal McDreamy, but this specific story has reached it's end. I have a few new stories in the works right now, different styles than this one, but I'm always open to suggestions. If there is something that you would like to see, PM me and let me know. Thanks for reading and please review. I truly love hearing what you think. **

**xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo**


End file.
